Visa Inc. $V Shares Purchased by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 129,564 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,374 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises approximately 0.6% of Sapient Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $45,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Visa by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $56,455,834,000 after buying an additional 1,054,343 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Visa by 0.8% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $8,463,484,000 after buying an additional 193,288 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Visa by 4.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,114,674 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $4,475,403,000 after buying an additional 530,995 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Visa by 3.3% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,458,913 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $4,253,224,000 after buying an additional 399,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Visa by 12.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,913,505 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $4,067,032,000 after buying an additional 1,298,435 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Trump said he urged China to open its credit card market more to Visa, raising hopes for future international growth if market access improves. Reuters related coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Visa is expanding digital identity and card activation tools, while also launching AI-powered fan intelligence capabilities, reinforcing its innovation and product-growth story. Visa Links Tap Identity And AI Fan Data To Its Growth Story
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlighted strong spending trends and digital payments adoption, which generally support transaction volume for Visa’s network. Credit Card Charges Show This Glaring Divergence With The Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa CFO Chris Suh sold shares in a disclosed insider transaction, which may slightly pressure sentiment but does not change the company’s operating outlook. SEC Form 4 filing
• Negative Sentiment: Separate news about delays in U.S. green-card processing and Hungary’s visa-worker policy are mostly unrelated to Visa Inc.’s business and should have limited direct impact on the stock. US Delays Green Card Processing For Indians In Key Visa Categories

Visa Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of V opened at $325.42 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $583.73 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $293.89 and a 1 year high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $311.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.74.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on V shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $403.00 target price (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Truist Financial set a $371.00 target price on shares of Visa and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Visa from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $387.67.

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.