23,000 Shares in Visa Inc. $V Acquired by Explore Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Explore Capital Management opened a new position in Visa, buying 23,000 shares worth about $8.1 million. Visa now makes up 6.7% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 7th-largest holding.
• Visa continues to draw strong institutional interest, with major holders like Vanguard, Geode Capital, and Norges Bank adding or initiating positions. Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 82.15% of Visa’s shares.
• The company’s latest results were solid, with EPS of $3.31 beating estimates and revenue rising 17.1% year over year. Visa also kept shareholder returns active through a $0.67 quarterly dividend and a $20 billion share buyback authorization.

Explore Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 23,000 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $8,066,000. Visa comprises 6.7% of Explore Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Visa by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,455,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,343 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,042,586 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $15,411,395,000 after purchasing an additional 388,996 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Visa by 0.8% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $8,463,484,000 after purchasing an additional 193,288 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,877,738,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Visa by 4.2% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,114,674 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,475,403,000 after purchasing an additional 530,995 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Visa

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on V shares. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $415.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six equities research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.78.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction 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 approximately $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Visa Price Performance

Visa stock opened at $320.06 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $316.15 and a 200-day moving average of $324.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $574.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.77. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The business 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 business's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.76 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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