Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,848,317 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 213,955 shares during the period. Visa makes up 0.8% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $1,465,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of 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 period. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Visa by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC boosted 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Up 2.3%

V opened at $357.02 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $331.34 and its 200-day moving average is $324.88. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $640.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Visa announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $350.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $397.91.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total value of $3,608,455.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,219,704.26. This represents a 40.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.