Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Invests $45.71 Million in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 144,626 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $45,708,000. Visa accounts for approximately 1.2% of Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Visa by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,059,111 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $566,153,000 after purchasing an additional 199,440 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in Visa by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,355 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $29,242,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,733,284 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,576,366,000 after purchasing an additional 411,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $660,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE V opened at $334.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $338.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $311.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $252.70 and a one year high of $366.54. The firm has a market cap of $621.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.59 dividend. 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 0.71%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on V. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $383.00 target price (up from $368.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total value of $12,875,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,642,333.60. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,855 shares of company stock worth $35,165,827 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.