Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Cuts Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 74,761 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 528 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Visa were worth $23,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the third quarter worth $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,885 shares of company stock valued at $19,161,447 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE V opened at $350.45 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $651.05 billion, a PE ratio of 35.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $328.47 and a 200-day moving average of $301.39. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $357.15.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on V shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $393.00 price target (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Visa from $279.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Visa from $354.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $354.73.

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.