Sterling Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Sterling Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 13.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,525 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 22,469 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up about 0.8% of Sterling Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $42,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chapman Financial Group LLC grew its position in Visa by 0.9% during the third quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC now owns 3,211 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 9,447 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Bank OZK boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank OZK now owns 858 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,710 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. now owns 1,598 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Price Performance

V stock opened at $336.96 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $323.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $324.29. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $359.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $604.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 1.80 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 (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend 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 currently 23.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the 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 directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on V shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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

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.