Sycomore Asset Management Raises Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Sycomore Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 332.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,484 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 2,678 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Visa were worth $902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 1.3% during the fourth 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. Parker Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Parker Financial LLC now owns 925 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,295 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on V shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Visa from $297.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen began coverage on Visa in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Visa from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Visa from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,898 shares in the company, valued at $1,365,954.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.36, for a total transaction of $2,298,952.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,833.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total transaction of $729,271.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,898 shares in the company, valued at $1,365,954.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,965 shares of company stock worth $5,256,352. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V traded up $0.55 on Thursday, reaching $275.57. 2,831,109 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,874,035. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.14 and a fifty-two week high of $290.96. The company’s 50 day moving average is $279.44 and its 200-day moving average is $263.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $506.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.62 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 51.72% and a net margin of 53.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is 23.24%.

Visa Company 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.