Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Saratoga Research & Investment Management

Saratoga Research & Investment Management decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,677 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 8,845 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 2.8% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Visa were worth $55,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 7,079,706 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Visa by 4.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,610,942 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $21,064,179,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,977 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 7.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,655,250 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $10,601,135,000 after buying an additional 2,772,549 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $5,171,271,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Visa by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,241,003 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,868,646,000 after acquiring an additional 718,558 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity 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 completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,569,094.56. This represents a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,560,961. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on V shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $393.00 price objective (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $383.00 target price (up previously from $368.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.84.

Visa Stock Performance

Visa stock opened at $342.62 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $366.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $343.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $315.49. The company has a market capitalization of $636.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.54, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.