Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Boosts Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,864 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 1,105 shares during the period. Visa makes up 1.5% of Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Visa were worth $17,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Single Point Partners LLC bought a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000. Cigna Investments Inc. New increased its position in shares of Visa by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 16,293 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $5,150,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 865 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $356,000. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,175,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 1.1 %

V opened at $355.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $323.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.90. The company has a market capitalization of $660.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $356.08.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. Analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on V shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Visa from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho upped their price target on Visa from $279.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie lifted their price objective on Visa from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Visa from $375.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.73.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $668,602.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $874,480.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,500. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 58,056 shares of company stock valued at $19,830,050. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services.