Private Capital Management LLC Sells 1,617 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Private Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 68.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 755 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,617 shares during the quarter. Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in Visa by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other 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 transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,569,094.56. This trade represents a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,885 shares of company stock valued at $19,161,447 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of V opened at $363.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $674.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.97. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $364.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $333.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.66.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $395.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $393.00 price target (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.96.

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.