Clark Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Clark Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,447 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.7% of Clark Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Clark Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $4,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of V. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Visa by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $50,378,465,000 after purchasing an additional 7,079,706 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,345,176 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $12,729,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,926 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Visa by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,816,573 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $7,526,660,000 after buying an additional 866,596 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 23,277,622 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $7,356,614,000 after acquiring an additional 241,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,260,714 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $5,771,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,707 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total transaction of $17,099,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,772,810. The trade was a 63.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $889,868.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. The trade was a 17.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 101,108 shares of company stock worth $36,771,200. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 1.3%

Visa stock opened at $358.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $661.86 billion, a PE ratio of 36.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $355.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $341.24.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. The business had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on V shares. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Visa from $383.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.84.

Visa Profile

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.