Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Holdings Lowered by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 16.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,159,778 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 602,475 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 2.0% of Bessemer Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Visa worth $1,107,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $50,378,465,000 after acquiring an additional 7,079,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,345,176 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $12,729,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,926 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Visa by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,816,573 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $7,526,660,000 after acquiring an additional 866,596 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Visa by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 23,277,622 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $7,356,614,000 after acquiring an additional 241,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Visa by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,260,714 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,771,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, June 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.80.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of Visa stock traded up $3.10 on Friday, reaching $349.13. The stock had a trading volume of 6,588,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,921,649. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.70 and a 1 year high of $375.51. The company has a market cap of $644.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business's 50 day moving average is $352.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.57.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a net margin of 52.86% and a return on equity of 56.28%. The firm had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.44, for a total value of $3,020,792.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $188,186.28. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 14,813 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.04, for a total transaction of $5,259,207.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $9,377,671.52. This represents a 35.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 101,098 shares of company stock valued at $36,738,526 over the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is 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.