iA Global Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• iA Global Asset Management increased its Visa stake by 43.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 337,077 shares valued at about $118.2 million. Visa now represents roughly 1.5% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Visa beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $3.31 versus $3.10 expected and revenue of $11.23 billion versus $10.75 billion expected, with revenue up 17.1% from a year earlier. The company also reported strong profitability, including a 65.0% return on equity and 51.68% net margin.
• Shareholder returns remain active: Visa authorized a $20 billion stock buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, payable June 1. Analysts remain bullish overall, with a consensus Buy rating and average price target of $387.67.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 43.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 337,077 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 101,619 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up about 1.5% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $118,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of V. Patron Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.6% during the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the third quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. High Note Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 6.8% in the third quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 474 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.0% in the third quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the third quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC now owns 3,211 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $325.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. 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 $311.20 and its two-hundred 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 1.74 and a beta of 0.78.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Key Headlines 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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on V. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $403.00 price objective (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Six investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.67.

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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