Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Holdings Lessened by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,886 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,529 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 2.0% of Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $16,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 101,450 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,627,000 after buying an additional 1,157 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 72.5% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 18,396 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $4,829,000 after acquiring an additional 7,734 shares during the period. Ashburton Jersey Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter worth about $14,347,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,300,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Visa by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 179 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,510,815.18. This trade represents a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on V shares. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Visa from $311.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Visa from $321.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen increased 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $335.52.

Visa Stock Up 2.2 %

V stock opened at $343.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $344.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $639.46 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $316.43 and a 200 day moving average of $292.09.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.19 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.25%.

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.