Visa Inc. $V Stock Holdings Decreased by Searle & CO.

Searle & CO. decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,135 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 1.8% of Searle & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Visa were worth $7,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. XXEC Inc. boosted its stake in Visa by 153,118.8% in the 2nd quarter. XXEC Inc. now owns 186,260,448 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $63,904,097,000 after purchasing an additional 186,138,883 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,435,262,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 13.0% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,720,068 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $5,393,398,000 after buying an additional 1,808,496 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 33.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,486,927 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,356,090,000 after buying an additional 1,116,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Visa by 16.5% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,714,919 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,646,911,000 after buying an additional 1,092,315 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V opened at $422.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $442.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $387.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $345.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $754.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $12.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.09 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 70.50% and a net margin of 51.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 15.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.00, for a total transaction of $789,741.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,784,892. This represents a 9.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.22, for a total transaction of $2,445,292.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,722.28. The trade was a 27.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 29,262 shares of company stock worth $11,195,791 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $490 from $440 and maintained a Buy rating, implying about 15.9% upside from the cited share price. Citigroup recommendations
• Positive Sentiment: Global Payments added Visa’s Intelligent Data Exchange API to its Adaptive Authentication platform. Sharing more transaction data with issuers is intended to reduce false declines and improve digital checkout, supporting the utility of Visa’s data tools. Global Payments expands authentication platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares for about $790,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. She retained 18,404 shares, which may temper concern about the sale as a signal of her outlook. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: A hotter-than-expected October CPI reading could renew inflation and interest-rate concerns, potentially pressuring richly valued growth-oriented stocks, including Visa. CPI and market drivers
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary on Visa’s long-term performance also flags fee-related lawsuits, stablecoin competition and a high valuation as risks that could challenge its record of outperforming the broader market. Visa’s IPO and long-term performance

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on V. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Visa from $387.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho set a $440.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $410.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, President Capital increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $411.00 to $474.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $442.29.

About Visa

Visa Inc. operates a global payments network that connects consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. Its network supports the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payments, including transactions made in person and online. The company’s services include payment processing, fraud prevention, identity and risk management, and money-transfer solutions such as Visa Direct. Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards are issued by participating financial institutions; Visa generally provides the network and related services rather than issuing cards or extending credit directly to consumers.