Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Stock Holdings Lowered by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,189 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 392 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.7% of Sapient Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $36,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverstone Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at $731,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its stake in Visa by 16.4% in the 4th 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. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 3rd quarter worth about $616,000. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 77,443 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $24,475,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of V stock opened at $351.43 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $322.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.52. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.70 and a twelve month high of $352.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $652.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. As a group, research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.27 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is 23.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total transaction of $815,313.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,569,094.56. This represents a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total transaction of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,056 shares of company stock worth $19,830,050 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $393.00 target price (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Visa from $311.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Macquarie upped their price target on Visa from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Visa from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $354.73.

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.