Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Boosts Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors increased its Visa stake by 2.1% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 837,287 shares worth about $253.1 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.31 beating estimates and revenue of $11.23 billion topping forecasts; revenue also rose 17.1% year over year.
• The company announced a $20 billion share repurchase program and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, underscoring management’s confidence and returning cash to shareholders.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 837,287 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 16,848 shares during the period. Visa comprises 1.4% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in Visa were worth $253,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of V. Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 446.2% during the 4th 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 boosted its position 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 period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 200.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

Visa stock opened at $336.96 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $359.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $604.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $323.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $324.29.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Stories 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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on V. Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Truist Financial set a $371.00 target price on Visa and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $389.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.78.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 firm'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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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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