Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 7,934 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Legato Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 44.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,731 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 7,934 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $3,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of V opened at $353.73 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $324.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.30. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $657.15 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.70 and a 12-month high of $356.08.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on V shares. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Visa from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Visa from $318.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $393.00 target price (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $354.73.

Insider Activity

In other Visa news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This represents a 47.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total transaction of $815,313.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,569,094.56. This trade represents a 34.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 owned by company insiders.

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.