Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Holdings Cut by Ardevora Asset Management LLP

Ardevora Asset Management LLP reduced its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 50.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,037 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 89,072 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 2.0% of Ardevora Asset Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Ardevora Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Visa were worth $22,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of V. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Visa by 17,418.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,737,229 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,233,338,000 after purchasing an additional 4,710,188 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Visa by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 50,357,747 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $11,582,785,000 after acquiring an additional 2,257,605 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the 3rd quarter worth $358,349,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Visa by 34.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,929,979 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $903,955,000 after purchasing an additional 999,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 28.0% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,983,190 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $916,174,000 after purchasing an additional 871,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $272.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $500.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s fifty day moving average is $279.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.14 and a 12-month high of $290.96.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The credit-card processor reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.07. Visa had a net margin of 53.92% and a return on equity of 50.02%. The business had revenue of $8.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total transaction of $729,271.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,954.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.36, for a total value of $2,298,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,833.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total value of $729,271.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,954.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,965 shares of company stock worth $5,256,352. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

V has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Visa from $300.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Visa from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.43.

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.