Edgewood Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Edgewood Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,608,097 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 577,237 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 6.0% of Edgewood Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Edgewood Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $2,088,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total transaction of $815,313.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,569,094.56. The trade was a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.44, for a total transaction of $3,020,792.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,186.28. The trade was a 94.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V opened at $313.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $582.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $366.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $345.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $317.07.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. On average, research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given 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 an average price target of $355.84.

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.