Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is Blue Whale Capital LLP’s 8th Largest Position

Blue Whale Capital LLP reduced its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 223,108 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 10,638 shares during the period. Visa makes up 5.2% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings in Visa were worth $70,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in V. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 48.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total value of $815,313.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,569,094.56. This represents a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Down 7.6 %

Visa stock opened at $313.46 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.70 and a 1 year high of $366.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $345.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $317.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $582.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

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.