Prudential Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,457,028 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 101,971 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 0.6% of Prudential Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $460,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverstone Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 9,678 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the period. King Wealth Management Group grew its stake in shares of Visa by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 74,874 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $23,663,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,163,000. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $616,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total value of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at $12,789,689.82. This represents a 47.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,931. This trade represents a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,560,961. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

V stock opened at $336.51 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $340.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.70 and a 12-month high of $366.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $625.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on V. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.