Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc cut its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 981,548 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 141,880 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 1.4% of Impax Asset Management Group plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Visa were worth $309,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Visa by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,610,942 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $21,064,179,000 after buying an additional 3,327,977 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,111,843 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $15,702,901,000 after buying an additional 3,265,518 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,655,250 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $10,601,135,000 after buying an additional 2,772,549 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $268,640,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $227,342,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V opened at $350.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $651.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.97. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.70 and a twelve month high of $357.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $331.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $304.27.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. Equities analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Visa from $318.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Visa from $279.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $353.96.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total transaction of $815,313.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,569,094.56. This represents a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total value of $11,801,589.57. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. The trade was a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,885 shares of company stock worth $19,161,447. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.