Militia Capital Management LLC Makes New $2.44 Million Investment in Visa Inc. $V

Militia Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,073 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $2,440,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $56,455,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054,343 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,798,151 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $29,038,140,000 after acquiring an additional 626,821 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Visa by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,092,294 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $14,411,480,000 after purchasing an additional 716,218 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,835,336 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $8,359,291,000 after buying an additional 398,459 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on V. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 target price on the stock. Clear Str raised Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.36.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of Visa stock opened at $353.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $633.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.10. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $365.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

About Visa

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.