Highland Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Highland Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,947 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 3,042 shares during the period. Visa makes up 1.2% of Highland Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $19,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in Visa by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 3,143 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP increased its position in shares of Visa by 18.4% during the second quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 270 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Powers Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 4.1% in the third quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Visa by 3.9% in the third quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:V traded down $2.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $278.49. 1,300,139 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,579,946. The company’s 50 day moving average is $278.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.27. The company has a market capitalization of $511.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.96. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.14 and a twelve month high of $290.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The credit-card processor reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.55 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 50.02% and a net margin of 53.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on V. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $300.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt started coverage on Visa in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Visa from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total transaction of $729,271.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,365,954.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.39, for a total value of $2,228,128.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total value of $729,271.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,954.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,311 shares of company stock valued at $12,832,129. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.