SouthState Corp Boosts Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

SouthState Corp raised its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 50.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,455 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,338 shares during the period. Visa makes up about 2.5% of SouthState Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Visa were worth $38,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 10.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,059,111 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $566,153,000 after purchasing an additional 199,440 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $29,242,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the third quarter worth about $228,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $1,576,366,000 after purchasing an additional 411,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Visa in the third quarter worth about $660,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $331.72 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $616.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $252.70 and a 12 month high of $366.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $337.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.19. 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 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 net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. Analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $383.00 price objective (up from $368.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $395.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $353.96.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total value of $12,875,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,642,333.60. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total value of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at $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 quarter, insiders have sold 103,855 shares of company stock valued at $35,165,827. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.