Auxier Asset Management Sells 1,489 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Auxier Asset Management cut its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,193 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 1,489 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up about 2.0% of Auxier Asset Management's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Auxier Asset Management's holdings in Visa were worth $12,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 377.3% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 105 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE:V traded up $5.67 on Tuesday, hitting $359.21. The company had a trading volume of 6,312,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,023,621. The stock has a market capitalization of $662.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $341.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $332.43. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $369.15.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. The firm had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.51 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $365.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, 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 transaction of $3,129,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $194,931. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total transaction of $12,875,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,642,333.60. The trade was a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 121,948 shares of company stock worth $41,548,282. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.