HTLF Bank Decreases Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

HTLF Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,220 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 506 shares during the period. HTLF Bank’s holdings in Visa were worth $4,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $350.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $321.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.88. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $352.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $651.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.37, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. Analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $393.00 target price (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.73.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $668,602.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $5,510,815.18. This trade represents a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total transaction of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,056 shares of company stock worth $19,830,050 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Visa 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.