Allstate Corp Raises Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Allstate Corp more than doubled its Visa stake in the fourth quarter, increasing holdings by 106.3% to 128,535 shares worth about $45.1 million. Visa now represents 0.6% of Allstate’s portfolio and is its 24th-largest position.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $3.31 beating estimates of $3.10 and revenue of $11.23 billion topping forecasts. Revenue rose 17.1% year over year, and analysts still expect full-year EPS of 13.09.
• The company also boosted shareholder returns by announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share and a new $20 billion share buyback authorization. The stock traded around $329.21, while analysts maintain an overall Buy rating and average price target of $387.67.

Allstate Corp lifted its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 106.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,535 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 66,228 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 0.6% of Allstate Corp's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Allstate Corp's holdings in Visa were worth $45,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of V. Invariant Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $969,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 24.1% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 823,262 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $281,045,000 after acquiring an additional 159,906 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 11.3% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,352,766 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $803,187,000 after acquiring an additional 238,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 4.7% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 527,530 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $180,088,000 after acquiring an additional 23,863 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on V. Evercore set a $350.00 target price on Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 target price on Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Freedom Capital raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $387.67.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Visa stock opened at $329.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $590.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $313.23 and a 200 day moving average of $325.27.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its board has initiated a share 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 repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is 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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