Visa Inc. $V Stake Lessened by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,119,355 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 328,203 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.4% of American Century Companies Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.12% of Visa worth $723,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of V. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its stake in Visa by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 58,355 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $19,921,000 after acquiring an additional 2,746 shares in the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 2,383,373 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $813,636,000 after purchasing an additional 473,058 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter worth approximately $24,577,000. Clare Market Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 16.2% in the third quarter. Clare Market Investments LLC now owns 5,020 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 52.3% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,500 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $854,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on V. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price target on Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $391.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This trade represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE:V opened at $319.07 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $299.00 and a one year high of $375.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $333.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $338.12. The stock has a market cap of $579.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 25.14%.

About Visa

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.