Erste Asset Management GmbH Raises Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its Visa stake by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, adding 123,313 shares and bringing its total holding to 567,139 shares worth about $200.1 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.31 topping estimates and revenue of $11.23 billion beating forecasts; revenue rose 17.1% year over year.
• The company also returned cash to shareholders through a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share and an approved $20 billion share repurchase program, while analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” view with a target price around $387.78.

Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 27.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 567,139 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 123,313 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 1.7% of Erste Asset Management GmbH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Visa were worth $200,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 7,514 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,635,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $888,000. HFR Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,041 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $16,147,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Visa by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,148 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,260,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP increased its position in Visa by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 3,270,999 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,147,172,000 after buying an additional 887,626 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

V opened at $324.03 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $581.23 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.77. 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. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $316.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.48.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on V shares. Truist Financial set a $371.00 price target on Visa and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price target on the stock. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $387.78.

Visa News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa is testing private stablecoin settlement with Brale on the Canton Network, a proof of concept aimed at enabling institutional payments with more privacy and efficiency. Investors may see this as evidence that Visa is expanding its payments infrastructure into a potentially high-growth use case. Article: Visa tests private stablecoin settlement with Brale, Canton
• Positive Sentiment: Visa’s new partnership with Brale reinforces its stablecoin strategy and suggests the company is actively building tools for institutional blockchain settlement, which could strengthen long-term growth prospects. Article: How Visa Advances Stablecoin Payment Vision With Brale Partnership?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and others are collaborating on a new stablecoin platform suggest major payments players are validating the opportunity, which may help Visa if the initiative gains merchant traction. Article: Visa Mastercard Stablecoin Push Tests Circle USDC And Rich Valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa also announced leadership appointments in Asia Pacific to support value-added services and Southeast Asia growth, a positive operating update but likely not a major near-term stock driver. Article: Visa Announces Asia Pacific Leadership Appointments to Scale Value-Added Services and Southeast Asia Growth
• Negative Sentiment: News that Visa and Mastercard payments are being halted in Cuba adds a small regional headwind, though the revenue impact is likely limited compared with Visa’s overall global business. Article: Visa, Mastercard payments to be halted in Cuba amid new US sanctions

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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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