Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 711,707 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 49,140 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 3.0% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Visa were worth $249,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Clayton Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 446.2% in the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Visa by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management purchased a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% 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 have sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price objective for the company. Freedom Capital raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $371.00 price target on shares of Visa and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $387.78.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $320.06 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $316.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $324.50. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.89 and a 12 month high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $574.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.77.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Visa News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa announced a collaboration with Brale to explore stablecoin-based settlement on the Canton Network, reinforcing its push into blockchain-enabled payments and suggesting the company wants to own the next phase of payment infrastructure rather than be disrupted by it. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted Visa’s stablecoin strategy as a potential growth catalyst, with investors interpreting the Brale/Canton proof-of-concept and related coverage as evidence that Visa is expanding into faster, private institutional settlement. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Visa also announced leadership appointments in Asia Pacific aimed at scaling value-added services and accelerating Southeast Asia growth, supporting the longer-term revenue opportunity outside core card processing. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage on “pay-by-bank” noted that bank-to-bank payments are gaining some attention, but adoption and consumer trust remain limited, so the competitive threat to Visa appears more theoretical than immediate. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several stories about gold-backed Visa cards and Cuba-related sanctions were mostly brand or geopolitics headlines, with limited direct impact on Visa’s core earnings outlook. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The main bearish theme was the possibility that alternative payment rails and stablecoin platforms could pressure card networks over time, though recent reports suggest Visa may be participating in those solutions rather than losing share to them. Article Title

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.