Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is Columbia Asset Management's 4th Largest Position

Columbia Asset Management lowered its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,423 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 1,868 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 3.7% of Columbia Asset Management's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Columbia Asset Management's holdings in Visa were worth $19,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,171,271,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 38,416.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,761,375 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,173,271,000 after purchasing an additional 14,723,050 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Visa by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $50,378,465,000 after purchasing an additional 7,079,706 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $1,955,403,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 17,018.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,949,118 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,248,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926,049 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 1.0%

V traded up $3.67 on Friday, hitting $370.44. 5,007,822 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,003,537. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $344.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $335.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $683.52 billion, a PE ratio of 37.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $252.70 and a 12 month high of $371.00.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.41, for a total transaction of $13,395,133.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,991,249.33. The trade was a 59.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $2,978,899.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $185,576.46. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 168,162 shares of company stock worth $58,645,479. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on V shares. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup began coverage on Visa in a report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Macquarie dropped their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.80.

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.