Pitcairn Co. Trims Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Pitcairn Co. lessened its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,237 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 981 shares during the period. Visa makes up 0.6% of Pitcairn Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $9,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in Visa by 0.6% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,355 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $29,242,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 7.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,733,284 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,576,366,000 after buying an additional 411,210 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter valued at $69,000. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 22,130 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $6,085,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 6,217 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,709,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $346.49 on Thursday. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $252.70 and a 12 month high of $366.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $643.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $345.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $316.58.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders 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 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total value of $12,875,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,642,333.60. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total value of $815,313.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,569,094.56. This trade represents a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,585 shares of company stock valued at $45,821,697. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on V shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.84.

Visa 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.