Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 2,769 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 233,172 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,769 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 1.1% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $73,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.6% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,355 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $29,242,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Visa by 7.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,733,284 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,576,366,000 after purchasing an additional 411,210 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the third quarter valued at about $1,778,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the third quarter worth about $133,000. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

V stock opened at $344.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $341.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $314.21. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.70 and a 12-month high of $366.54. The firm has a market cap of $640.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.77, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.00, for a total value of $3,129,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,931. This trade represents a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total value of $11,801,589.57. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at $12,789,689.82. The trade was a 47.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,560,961 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated 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. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $353.96.

Visa 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.