Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Purchased by Federated Hermes Inc.

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its investment in Visa Inc. by 10.4%, bringing its total holdings to 642,526 shares valued at approximately $225.18 million.
• Visa's stock performance remains strong with a market cap of $655.88 billion and recent earnings per share of $2.76, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• Several investment firms have recently issued positive ratings and revised target prices for Visa, with UBS Group increasing their target price from $395 to $405.

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 642,526 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 60,331 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $225,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in V. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at $54,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 28.5% in the first quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 167 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V traded down $6.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $338.54. The stock had a trading volume of 5,756,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,610,929. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $355.36 and a 200 day moving average of $346.13. The stock has a market cap of $624.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.92. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $254.51 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.13. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%. The company had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on V. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total value of $17,099,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,772,810. The trade was a 63.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,913 shares of company stock valued at $32,902,432 over the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services.