75,217 Shares in Visa Inc. $V Acquired by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 75,217 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $25,806,000. Visa comprises approximately 1.0% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 867.6% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,213,610 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,880,595,000 after buying an additional 7,364,762 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 29,706.3% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,332,947 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,216,310,000 after buying an additional 7,308,345 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,351,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,116,463 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

V opened at $358.94 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $350.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $328.53. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $373.97. The firm has a market cap of $640.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 67.68% and a net margin of 50.78%.Visa’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.79%.

Visa declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on V. Erste Group Bank upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $435.00 target price (up from $430.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $430.00 price target (up from $394.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Visa from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $413.58.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.25, for a total value of $7,135,042.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,162,953.50. The trade was a 58.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 90,759 shares of company stock worth $32,375,779. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa 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.