Polar Capital Holdings Plc Raises Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 223,439 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 13,117 shares during the quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc's holdings in Visa were worth $70,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Up 0.8%

V traded up $2.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $365.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,829,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,022,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business's 50-day moving average is $338.59 and its 200-day moving average is $329.34. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $366.54. The stock has a market cap of $678.51 billion, a PE ratio of 36.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. The company had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.51 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

V has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Macquarie reduced their price objective on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $362.38.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total transaction of $12,875,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,642,333.60. This represents a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $194,931. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 121,948 shares of company stock valued at $41,548,282 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.