Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 55,008 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up about 1.8% of Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $17,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in V. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Visa by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on V shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $874,480.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.00, for a total value of $3,129,060.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $194,931. This trade represents a 94.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of V stock opened at $329.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $611.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $366.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $320.44.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. On average, analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Visa Company 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.