Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys 1,764,781 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 295.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,362,202 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,764,781 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 2.5% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $746,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total transaction of $815,313.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,569,094.56. This trade represents a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $2,930,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.5 %

V stock opened at $335.88 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $366.54. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $338.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $321.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $623.99 billion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on V shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI started coverage on Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $358.17.

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.