Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Two Sigma Advisers LP

Two Sigma Advisers LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,949,800 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 81,700 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up approximately 1.4% of Two Sigma Advisers LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Visa were worth $616,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $5,171,271,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Visa by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $50,378,465,000 after buying an additional 7,079,706 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $1,955,403,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 17,018.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,949,118 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,248,079,000 after buying an additional 3,926,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Visa by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,260,714 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $5,771,116,000 after buying an additional 2,785,707 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Price Performance

V opened at $365.23 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $338.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $329.89. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.70 and a 12-month high of $366.54. 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 cap of $673.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.82, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. The firm had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.51 EPS. Visa’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 14,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.04, for a total transaction of $5,259,207.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,377,671.52. This trade represents a 35.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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. Insiders have sold 121,948 shares of company stock valued at $41,548,282 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on V shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Six 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Visa has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.38.

About Visa

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.