Argent Advisors Inc. Buys 4,029 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Argent Advisors Inc. increased its Visa stake by 56.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 4,029 more shares to bring its total to 11,211 shares valued at about $3.93 million.
• Visa continues to draw attention for its stablecoin and blockchain payment initiatives, including a collaboration with Brale to explore stablecoin-based settlement on the Canton Network. That move is being viewed as a potential long-term growth catalyst rather than an immediate threat from alternative payment rails.
• Despite some insider selling, Visa posted strong quarterly results with earnings and revenue both beating estimates, and the board authorized a $20 billion share buyback. Analysts remain upbeat, with a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $387.78.

Argent Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 56.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,211 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 4,029 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up approximately 1.1% of Argent Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Argent Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $3,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in V. Clayton Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Visa by 102.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Visa by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about 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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on V. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price target for the company. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Freedom Capital raised shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore set a $350.00 price target on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Six investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.78.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of V stock opened at $320.06 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Visa declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management 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 given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.34%.

About Visa

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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