Cardano Risk Management B.V. Sells 7,414,063 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Cardano Risk Management B.V. cut its Visa stake by 90.3% in Q1, selling 7.4 million shares and leaving it with 799,547 shares worth about $241.7 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.31 per share and revenue of $11.23 billion, both above analyst expectations. Revenue also rose 17.1% from a year earlier.
• The company announced a $20 billion share buyback and continues to expand growth initiatives, including the launch of Visa Destinations and broader Visa Cloud Connect partnerships in Asia Pacific.

Cardano Risk Management B.V. lowered its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 90.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 799,547 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 7,414,063 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 2.4% of Cardano Risk Management B.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Cardano Risk Management B.V.'s holdings in Visa were worth $241,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC lifted its position in Visa by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 40,993 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $12,996,000 after buying an additional 3,693 shares in the last quarter. Watchman Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 14,625 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $4,420,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 5,338 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,613,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP increased its position in shares of Visa by 12.8% in the first quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 1,760 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa by 33.7% in the first quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 5,906 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,785,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa launched Visa Destinations, a global travel platform now live in 10 major markets, designed to engage cardholders earlier in the travel journey and deepen use of Visa’s network through curated experiences and exclusive access. Visa Redefines Its Role in Travel With the Global Launch of Visa Destinations
• Positive Sentiment: Visa expanded Visa Cloud Connect with Mintoak and Thredd in Asia Pacific, which could help fintechs and banks issue cards faster and broaden Visa’s reach in merchant SaaS and cloud-based issuing. Visa (V), Mintoak Partner to Expand Merchant SaaS Offerings Across Asia Pacific
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are highlighting Visa’s new travel push and international expansion efforts as potential future growth drivers, reinforcing the view that Visa can keep monetizing cross-border spending and travel-related activity. Can Visa's New Travel Play Become Its Next Growth Driver?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent write-ups on Visa’s travel and partner initiatives are largely descriptive, but they underscore investor focus on whether these new products can meaningfully add to growth over time. Visa Explores Travel Planning Space With Visa Destinations
• Neutral Sentiment: One opinion piece argued Visa could be vulnerable to payment disruption, but it did not include new fundamental data and appears to be more of a long-term risk discussion than a near-term catalyst. Visa: May Be Next On The Disruption Hit List

Visa Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $336.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $323.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $324.30. The stock has a market cap of $604.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.77. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $359.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its 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. 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Visa declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically 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. Shareholders 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 was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on V shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.78.

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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