Unison Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Unison Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,193 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up about 2.7% of Unison Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Unison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $5,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $874,480.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 36,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 58,056 shares of company stock valued at $19,830,050. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $351.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $652.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $321.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.19. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $351.90.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released 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%. Analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on V. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their target price on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Visa from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $354.73.

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.