State of Michigan Retirement System Increases Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 595,423 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,700 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises approximately 1.0% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Visa were worth $188,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in V. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Stock Down 2.7 %

V stock opened at $351.88 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $334.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $307.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $653.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $366.54. 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 (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $874,480.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,931. The trade was a 94.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,505 shares of company stock valued at $22,290,507 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.