Trexquant Investment LP Purchases 96,350 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1,251.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 104,047 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 96,350 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 0.4% of Trexquant Investment LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Visa were worth $32,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Visa stock opened at $350.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $651.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.70 and a 12-month high of $366.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $344.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $315.95.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 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%. Equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $393.00 target price (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total transaction of $11,801,589.57. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,560,961 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

About Visa

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.