O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $93.20 Million Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 294,904 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 33,926 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 0.8% of O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $93,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in Visa by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on V. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $393.00 price objective (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.84.

Visa Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $342.62 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $343.60 and its 200-day moving average is $315.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $366.54. The company has a market capitalization of $636.51 billion, a PE ratio of 34.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. Equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $194,931. The trade was a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,560,961. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.