Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 905,950 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,633,285 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 905,950 shares during the period. Visa comprises 1.9% of Clearbridge Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Visa worth $2,326,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC now owns 3,211 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd lifted its stake in Visa by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 9,447 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. TSA Wealth Managment LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. TSA Wealth Managment LLC now owns 659 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank OZK lifted its stake in Visa by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank OZK now owns 858 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

V has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Freedom Capital raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Visa in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Visa from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $387.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa News Roundup

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

Visa Trading Up 1.2%

V opened at $324.03 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $375.51. The company has a market cap of $581.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.77. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $316.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.49.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Visa announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in 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 typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.