Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 19.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,370 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,320 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $1,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverstone Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 9,678 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group boosted its position in Visa by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 74,874 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $23,663,000 after buying an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. acquired a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth $10,163,000. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $616,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE V opened at $320.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $340.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $321.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $594.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 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%. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is 23.79%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total value of $11,801,589.57. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. The trade was a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total value of $815,313.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,569,094.56. The trade was a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $393.00 price objective (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.84.

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.