Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC cut its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,742 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 760 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $3,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of V. Riverstone Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $217,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 9,678 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,058,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $10,163,000. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Visa during the third quarter valued at approximately $616,000. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 77,443 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $24,475,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.00, for a total value of $3,129,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,931. This represents a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,569,094.56. The trade was a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,505 shares of company stock worth $22,290,507 in the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $327.98 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $366.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $337.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $310.18. The company has a market cap of $609.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95. 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 (NYSE:V) last posted 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%. Analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on V shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $395.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.