North Star Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,151 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

North Star Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,063 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 1,151 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 2.1% of North Star Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $46,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Visa by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 377.3% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 105 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 14,813 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.04, for a total value of $5,259,207.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,377,671.52. This represents a 35.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,931. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 121,948 shares of company stock valued at $41,548,282 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $365.71.

Visa Stock Up 1.6%

Visa stock traded up $5.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $359.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,312,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,023,621. The company has a market capitalization of $662.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, 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 $369.15. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $341.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $332.43. 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 (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.57 billion. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

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.