Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC

SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC cut its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 21.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,463 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,518 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up approximately 0.7% of SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $1,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 867.6% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 7,364,762 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 12,497.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 3,378,039 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,184,712,000 after buying an additional 3,351,223 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa by 48.2% in the fourth 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% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,075,289 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on V shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $387.78.

Key Headlines Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• 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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was 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 owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $336.96 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $323.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $324.30. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $359.66. The company has a market capitalization of $604.43 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.