Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Has $5.66 Million Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,905 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up about 2.9% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $5,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Visa by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 566,729 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $155,822,000 after purchasing an additional 13,318 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Visa by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,059,111 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $566,153,000 after purchasing an additional 199,440 shares in the last quarter. Leisure Capital Management raised its holdings in Visa by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 5,606 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Visa by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 178,459 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $49,067,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co raised its holdings in Visa by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 8,235 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,264,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $355.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $323.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $297.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $660.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $356.08.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.27 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 23.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Visa from $311.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Visa from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $874,480.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total transaction of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. The trade was a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,056 shares of company stock valued at $19,830,050 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.