Shell Asset Management Co. Lowers Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Shell Asset Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,909 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 773 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 1.3% of Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $30,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Visa by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 377.3% in 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 in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $889,868.50. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. This represents a 17.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 14,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.04, for a total transaction of $5,259,207.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,377,671.52. This represents a 35.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 121,948 shares of company stock valued at $41,548,282 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE V opened at $361.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $672.27 billion, a PE ratio of 36.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $337.92 and a 200 day moving average of $328.77. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.70 and a 1 year high of $366.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on V. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $393.00 price objective (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, March 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.