Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 331,117 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,619 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 2.0% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $104,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverstone Advisors LLC bought a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth $217,000. Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the third quarter worth $731,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at about $616,000. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Visa by 0.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE V opened at $350.88 on Wednesday. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $252.70 and a 12 month high of $352.12. The company has a market capitalization of $651.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.37, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $321.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $296.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on V. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $393.00 price target (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Visa from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $354.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $668,602.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,510,815.18. This represents a 10.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 58,056 shares of company stock worth $19,830,050. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.