Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 86,089 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Shell Asset Management Co. decreased its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 76.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,381 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 86,089 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.9% of Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $9,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Visa by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 162,544,006 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $57,711,249,000 after buying an additional 1,461,575 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 2.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,096,802 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $15,253,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,631 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the second quarter worth approximately $7,034,939,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 14.6% in the second quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 19,067,558 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $6,769,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429,996 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.1% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,820,885 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $4,552,057,000 after purchasing an additional 145,665 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore set a $380.00 price objective on Visa in a report on Friday, December 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Daiwa America raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $392.21.

Visa Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $314.13 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $299.00 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $337.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $339.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $570.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.03. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The business had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.14%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total transaction of $707,919.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $8,608,789.09. The trade was a 7.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total value of $3,661,152.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This trade represents a 52.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.