Generali Investments Management Co LLC Invests $1.40 Million in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,439 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $1,403,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of V. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in Visa by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $194,931. This represents a 94.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total transaction of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. The trade was a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,855 shares of company stock valued at $35,165,827. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $334.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $621.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95. 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 quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $338.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $312.02.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $393.00 price target (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.