Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,905 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 2.9% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $5,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Visa in the third quarter worth about $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 48.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $668,602.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,510,815.18. This represents a 10.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,056 shares of company stock valued at $19,830,050. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

V stock opened at $355.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $252.70 and a one year high of $356.08. The stock has a market cap of $660.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $323.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.90.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

V has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $375.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.73.

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.