Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 85,700 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $25,902,000. Visa accounts for approximately 0.5% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of V. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in Visa by 867.6% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,213,610 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,880,595,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,762 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Visa by 12,497.1% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 3,378,039 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,184,712,000 after acquiring an additional 3,351,223 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,508,089 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,282,472,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 110.4% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,954,937 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,396,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,289 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity
In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Visa News Roundup
- Positive Sentiment: Visa launched Visa Destinations, a global travel platform now live in 10 major markets, designed to engage cardholders earlier in the travel journey and deepen use of Visa’s network through curated experiences and exclusive access. Visa Redefines Its Role in Travel With the Global Launch of Visa Destinations
- Positive Sentiment: Visa expanded Visa Cloud Connect with Mintoak and Thredd in Asia Pacific, which could help fintechs and banks issue cards faster and broaden Visa’s reach in merchant SaaS and cloud-based issuing. Visa (V), Mintoak Partner to Expand Merchant SaaS Offerings Across Asia Pacific
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts are highlighting Visa’s new travel push and international expansion efforts as potential future growth drivers, reinforcing the view that Visa can keep monetizing cross-border spending and travel-related activity. Can Visa’s New Travel Play Become Its Next Growth Driver?
- Neutral Sentiment: Several recent write-ups on Visa’s travel and partner initiatives are largely descriptive, but they underscore investor focus on whether these new products can meaningfully add to growth over time. Visa Explores Travel Planning Space With Visa Destinations
- Neutral Sentiment: One opinion piece argued Visa could be vulnerable to payment disruption, but it did not include new fundamental data and appears to be more of a long-term risk discussion than a near-term catalyst. Visa: May Be Next On The Disruption Hit List
Visa Trading Up 1.9%
NYSE V opened at $336.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $604.43 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.89 and a 12 month high of $359.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $323.36 and a 200-day moving average of $324.30.
Visa (NYSE:V – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Visa declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
Visa Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.34%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
V has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $403.00 price objective (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.78.
Visa Company Profile
Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.
Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.
Featured Articles
- Five stocks we like better than Visa
- Rocket Lab’s NASA Win Tests Key Support After Sharp Pullback
- AST SpaceMobile Just Nailed a Major Launch—So Why Is the Stock Crashing?
- Palantir’s Valuation Problem Just Met 2 New Growth Catalysts
- Xcel Energy Stock Offers Stability as Electricity Demand Builds
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Visa Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Visa and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
