Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP decreased its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 603,926 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 101,841 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 0.9% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Visa were worth $211,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of V. Invariant Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $969,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.7% during 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. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 4.7% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 527,530 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $180,088,000 after buying an additional 23,863 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.1% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,884,879 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $984,840,000 after buying an additional 60,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 28,922 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $10,143,000 after buying an additional 6,688 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Up 2.5%

Visa stock opened at $320.06 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $574.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $316.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $324.50.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Six 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.78.

Key Stories Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa announced a collaboration with Brale to explore private stablecoin settlement for institutional payments, reinforcing its blockchain and faster-settlement strategy. Visa and Brale Explore Private Stablecoin Settlement for Institutional Payments
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Visa, Stripe, and Mastercard may back a stablecoin platform sparked optimism that Visa could benefit from cheaper, faster cross-border settlement and stay ahead of payment innovation. Report: Payments Giants Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe Back Stablecoin Platform for Faster Payments
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary noted that the stablecoin pilot could create meaningful long-term benefits if successful, helping explain why the stock has been trending higher. Why Visa Stock Topped the Market on Thursday
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa also announced senior leadership appointments in Asia Pacific to support value-added services and Southeast Asia growth, a strategic but not immediate earnings driver. Visa Announces Asia Pacific Leadership Appointments to Scale Value-Added Services and Southeast Asia Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage on “pay-by-bank” and other payment alternatives raises competitive questions, but the articles suggest awareness and trust remain limited for now, so the threat to Visa looks incremental rather than immediate. Pay-by-Bank Is Quietly Gaining Ground. Should Card Network Visa Investors Worry?
• Negative Sentiment: Visa’s payment services were reported suspended in Cuba amid expanded U.S. sanctions, which is a small geographic headwind but not likely a major stock driver. Visa and Mastercard services suspended in tourist destination popular with Canadians

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.