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

Farallon Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 549,510 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 202,500 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $173,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Visa by 377.3% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 105 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value of $889,868.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,121,041.50. This trade represents a 17.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,931. This trade represents a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 107,135 shares of company stock worth $36,289,074. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $351.91 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $366.54. The company has a market capitalization of $653.77 billion, a PE ratio of 35.48, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $336.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $326.25.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.57 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. Visa’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Macquarie lowered their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.38.

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.