Vestcor Inc Sells 3,116 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Vestcor Inc lessened its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 62,074 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 3,116 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Visa were worth $21,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Visa by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,042,586 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,411,395,000 after acquiring an additional 388,996 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $8,463,484,000 after purchasing an additional 193,288 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,877,738,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Visa by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,114,674 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,475,403,000 after purchasing an additional 530,995 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Up 1.2%

V opened at $324.03 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $316.53 and its 200-day moving average is $324.49. The company has a market cap of $581.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.77. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $375.51. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.Visa’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.76 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of Visa 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Key Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa is testing private stablecoin settlement with Brale on the Canton Network, a proof of concept aimed at enabling institutional payments with more privacy and efficiency. Investors may see this as evidence that Visa is expanding its payments infrastructure into a potentially high-growth use case. Article: Visa tests private stablecoin settlement with Brale, Canton
• Positive Sentiment: Visa’s new partnership with Brale reinforces its stablecoin strategy and suggests the company is actively building tools for institutional blockchain settlement, which could strengthen long-term growth prospects. Article: How Visa Advances Stablecoin Payment Vision With Brale Partnership?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and others are collaborating on a new stablecoin platform suggest major payments players are validating the opportunity, which may help Visa if the initiative gains merchant traction. Article: Visa Mastercard Stablecoin Push Tests Circle USDC And Rich Valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa also announced leadership appointments in Asia Pacific to support value-added services and Southeast Asia growth, a positive operating update but likely not a major near-term stock driver. Article: Visa Announces Asia Pacific Leadership Appointments to Scale Value-Added Services and Southeast Asia Growth
• Negative Sentiment: News that Visa and Mastercard payments are being halted in Cuba adds a small regional headwind, though the revenue impact is likely limited compared with Visa’s overall global business. Article: Visa, Mastercard payments to be halted in Cuba amid new US sanctions

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of several research reports. Freedom Capital raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Visa in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $387.78.

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.