Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,261 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 148 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 1.1% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $13,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Visa by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,059,111 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $566,153,000 after buying an additional 199,440 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Visa by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,355 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $29,242,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at about $228,000. James J. Burns & Company LLC boosted its position in Visa by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 1,931 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yacktman Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Visa during the third quarter worth about $201,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $352.18 on Thursday. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $252.70 and a 12 month high of $366.54. The stock has a market cap of $654.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.50, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $335.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $307.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $383.00 price target (up previously from $368.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Visa from $395.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $353.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.00, for a total value of $3,129,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,931. The trade was a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $874,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,505 shares of company stock worth $22,290,507. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.