Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Holdings Boosted by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,407,551 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 245,121 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 2.1% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned about 0.08% of Visa worth $444,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter worth about $31,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Visa from $375.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $354.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total transaction of $815,313.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,569,094.56. This represents a 34.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,056 shares of company stock worth $19,830,050 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of V opened at $353.73 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $325.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.19. The company has a market capitalization of $657.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.12. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $356.08.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.79%.

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.