Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Stake Decreased by Sage Investment Advisers LLC

Sage Investment Advisers LLC lessened its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,465 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 7.4% of Sage Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Sage Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $6,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nadler Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Visa by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,427,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 10.1% in the third quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC now owns 1,757 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of V traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $277.19. 9,023,255 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,922,005. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $277.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.37. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.14 and a 12-month high of $290.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $506.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.95.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 51.23% and a net margin of 53.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Visa from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on Visa from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $307.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Visa from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.00.

Insider Activity

In other Visa news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 909 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.55, for a total value of $250,474.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $713,950.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.55, for a total transaction of $250,474.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $713,950.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.36, for a total transaction of $2,298,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,833.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% 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.