North Star Asset Management Inc. Purchases 1,387 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Get Rating) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 150,177 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up approximately 1.9% of North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $31,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 116,608.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,504,130 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $5,090,978,000 after purchasing an additional 24,483,134 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $3,067,232,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 51,122,866 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $10,621,287,000 after acquiring an additional 5,864,340 shares in the last quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 20,610.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. now owns 5,031,721 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $25,556,000 after acquiring an additional 5,007,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 290.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,428,383 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $786,702,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295,642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, Chairman Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $12,991,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 162,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,365,672.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. sold 58,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $12,991,420.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 162,354 shares in the company, valued at $36,365,672.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rajat Taneja sold 61,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.92, for a total transaction of $14,190,892.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 232,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,367,191.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 191,312 shares of company stock valued at $33,751,165. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V traded up $1.96 on Monday, hitting $219.35. The stock had a trading volume of 2,778,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,088,481. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $174.60 and a one year high of $234.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $412.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $223.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.40.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The credit-card processor reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.28% and a return on equity of 49.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $210.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Sunday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $249.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Visa from $290.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.11.

Visa Company Profile

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Visa, Inc engages in the provision of digital payment services. It also facilitates global commerce through the transfer of value and information among a global network of consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, strategic partners, and government entities. It offers debit cards, credit cards, prepaid products, commercial payment solutions, and global automated teller machines (ATMs).

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