Sage Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 16,228 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $5,691,000. Visa makes up 4.3% of Sage Investment Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invariant Investment Management bought a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth $969,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Visa by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,455,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,343 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Visa by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,352,766 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $803,187,000 after purchasing an additional 238,872 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Visa by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 527,530 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $180,088,000 after purchasing an additional 23,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Visa by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,884,879 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $984,840,000 after purchasing an additional 60,198 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $350.00 target price on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $386.70.
Read Our Latest Analysis on V
Visa Stock Performance
Shares of V opened at $327.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $314.87 and a 200-day moving average of $324.98. The company has a market cap of $587.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.77. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $375.51.
Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Visa Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.34%.
Visa declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Activity
In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.
Key Stories Impacting Visa
Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:
Visa Profile
(
Free Report)
Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world's largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa's network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.
Visa's product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.
Recommended Stories

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Visa, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Visa wasn't on the list.
While Visa currently has a Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Just getting into the stock market? These 10 simple stocks can help beginning investors build long-term wealth without knowing options, technicals, or other advanced strategies.
Get This Free Report