DNB Asset Management AS Acquires 760,147 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• DNB Asset Management AS boosted its Visa stake by 66.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 760,147 additional shares to bring its total to 1.91 million shares worth about $670 million.
• Visa’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $3.31 versus the $3.10 estimate and revenue of $11.23 billion, up 17.1% year over year.
• The company also announced a $20 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with an average Buy rating and a $387.67 price target.

DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 66.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,910,461 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 760,147 shares during the period. Visa comprises 2.3% of DNB Asset Management AS's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. DNB Asset Management AS owned about 0.10% of Visa worth $670,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in V. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its position in Visa by 446.2% during 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 in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in Visa by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC raised its position in Visa by 200.0% during the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Trump said he urged China to open its credit card market more to Visa, raising hopes for future international growth if market access improves. Reuters related coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Visa is expanding digital identity and card activation tools, while also launching AI-powered fan intelligence capabilities, reinforcing its innovation and product-growth story. Visa Links Tap Identity And AI Fan Data To Its Growth Story
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlighted strong spending trends and digital payments adoption, which generally support transaction volume for Visa’s network. Credit Card Charges Show This Glaring Divergence With The Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa CFO Chris Suh sold shares in a disclosed insider transaction, which may slightly pressure sentiment but does not change the company’s operating outlook. SEC Form 4 filing
• Negative Sentiment: Separate news about delays in U.S. green-card processing and Hungary’s visa-worker policy are mostly unrelated to Visa Inc.’s business and should have limited direct impact on the stock. US Delays Green Card Processing For Indians In Key Visa Categories

Visa Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Visa stock opened at $325.42 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $311.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.89. The company has a market cap of $583.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $293.89 and a 1 year high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (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 net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. Visa's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors 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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