AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 38,403 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc cut its Visa stake by 17.3% in the first quarter, selling 38,403 shares and leaving it with 183,627 shares valued at about $55.5 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.31 beating estimates and revenue of $11.23 billion, up 17.1% from a year earlier.
• The company remains a favorite among analysts, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $387.78, while Visa also announced a $20 billion share buyback and paid a $0.67 quarterly dividend.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc reduced its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 17.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 183,627 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 38,403 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Visa were worth $55,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 867.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,213,610 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,880,595,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,762 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in shares of Visa by 12,497.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 3,378,039 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,184,712,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351,223 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Visa by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,508,089 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $2,282,472,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 110.4% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,954,937 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,396,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,289 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Truist Financial set a $371.00 price objective on shares of Visa and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $387.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $387.78.

Visa Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Visa stock opened at $327.78 on Tuesday. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $293.89 and a 1 year high of $359.66. The firm has a market cap of $587.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $324.18.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.67 dividend. 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 presently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its board has approved 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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