Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Sells 30,375 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 50.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,399 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 30,375 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $9,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of V. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Visa by 10.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,059,111 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $566,153,000 after buying an additional 199,440 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 0.6% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,355 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $29,242,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the third quarter valued at $228,000. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 6.3% during the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 8,093 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 3.8% during the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 8,590 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE V opened at $343.81 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $335.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $307.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.70 and a 12-month high of $366.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $638.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $874,480.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,054,500. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,505 shares of company stock worth $22,290,507. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.96.

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.