Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 81,700 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,949,800 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 81,700 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 1.4% of Two Sigma Advisers LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.10% of Visa worth $616,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Visa Stock Down 0.1%

V traded down $0.40 on Thursday, hitting $357.90. 4,931,414 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,018,792. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $340.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $330.88. The company has a market cap of $660.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.70 and a twelve month high of $369.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total value of $12,875,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,642,333.60. The trade was a 59.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value of $889,868.50. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. This represents a 17.76% 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 valued at $41,548,282. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Barclays increased their price target on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $393.00 price objective (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $362.38.

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.