Hendley & Co. Inc. Decreases Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Hendley & Co. Inc. reduced its Visa stake by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,809 shares and leaving it with 68,604 shares worth about $24.1 million. Visa remains the fund’s second-largest holding, making up roughly 8.4% of its portfolio.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.31 per share and revenue of $11.23 billion, both above analyst estimates. Revenue rose 17.1% year over year, and analysts now expect full-year EPS of 13.09.
• The company also announced a $20 billion share buyback and a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, while several analysts maintained bullish ratings with a consensus price target of $387.67. Insider selling by the CFO and CEO was disclosed, but institutional ownership remains high at 82.15%.

Hendley & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,604 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 4,809 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 8.4% of Hendley & Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Hendley & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $24,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,455,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,343 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $8,463,484,000 after purchasing an additional 193,288 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa by 4.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,114,674 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,475,403,000 after purchasing an additional 530,995 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Visa by 3.3% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,458,913 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,253,224,000 after purchasing an additional 399,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Visa by 12.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,913,505 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,067,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,435 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 0.9%

V stock opened at $325.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company's 50 day moving average price is $311.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $325.89. The company has a market capitalization of $583.73 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.76 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on V. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 target price on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $389.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $387.67.

More Visa News

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

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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