Value Partners Investments Inc. Raises Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 551.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,671 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 96,216 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 2.6% of Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $34,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 18.9% in the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Lewis Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 4,751 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 152.0% in the 1st quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 1,865 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 736 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $135,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Truist Financial set a $371.00 price objective on Visa and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Loop Capital started coverage on Visa in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $387.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 target price on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $387.78.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $336.96 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $604.43 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.77. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.89 and a 12 month high of $359.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $323.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $324.29.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Visa declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa launched Visa Destinations, a global travel platform now live in 10 major markets, designed to engage cardholders earlier in the travel journey and deepen use of Visa’s network through curated experiences and exclusive access. Visa Redefines Its Role in Travel With the Global Launch of Visa Destinations
• Positive Sentiment: Visa expanded Visa Cloud Connect with Mintoak and Thredd in Asia Pacific, which could help fintechs and banks issue cards faster and broaden Visa’s reach in merchant SaaS and cloud-based issuing. Visa (V), Mintoak Partner to Expand Merchant SaaS Offerings Across Asia Pacific
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are highlighting Visa’s new travel push and international expansion efforts as potential future growth drivers, reinforcing the view that Visa can keep monetizing cross-border spending and travel-related activity. Can Visa’s New Travel Play Become Its Next Growth Driver?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent write-ups on Visa’s travel and partner initiatives are largely descriptive, but they underscore investor focus on whether these new products can meaningfully add to growth over time. Visa Explores Travel Planning Space With Visa Destinations
• Neutral Sentiment: One opinion piece argued Visa could be vulnerable to payment disruption, but it did not include new fundamental data and appears to be more of a long-term risk discussion than a near-term catalyst. Visa: May Be Next On The Disruption Hit List

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.