Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Acquires 1,323 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,692 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 2.2% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $46,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total value of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total value of $815,313.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,569,094.56. The trade was a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Trading Down 1.3 %

V opened at $331.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $615.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $341.55 and its 200-day moving average is $319.71. 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 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $366.54.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 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 fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their target price on Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.84.

Visa Company 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.