State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Sells 21,310 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lowered its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 591,621 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 21,310 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises approximately 0.7% of State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Visa were worth $186,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Visa Price Performance

Shares of V opened at $329.26 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $340.68 and a 200-day moving average of $321.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $611.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.70 and a 1 year high of $366.54.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,054,500. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total transaction of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on V. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.84.

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.