Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Stake Cut by WestHill Financial Advisors Inc.

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,403 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 48 shares during the period. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in V. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $350.45 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $357.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $651.05 billion, a PE ratio of 35.33, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $328.47 and its 200-day moving average is $301.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is 23.79%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $874,480.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,054,500. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $2,739,263.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,885 shares of company stock valued at $19,161,447 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on V. Susquehanna raised their price target on Visa from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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. Macquarie raised their price objective on Visa from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Visa from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.73.

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.