Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 520,786 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 125.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 937,519 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 520,786 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Visa were worth $283,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 446.2% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 200.0% in the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

V stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $349.05. 4,701,656 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,985,494. The firm has a market capitalization of $626.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $330.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $325.05. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $365.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to reacquire 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 shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% 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. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Visa from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 target price for the company. Seven 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.91.

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.