Isthmus Partners LLC Buys 43,543 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Isthmus Partners LLC sharply increased its Visa stake by 2,615.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 43,543 additional shares to bring its total to 45,208 shares worth about $15.9 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.31 per share beating estimates and revenue rising 17.1% year over year to $11.23 billion.
• Visa also expanded capital returns by authorizing a $20 billion share repurchase plan and declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, payable June 1.

Isthmus Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2,615.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 45,208 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 43,543 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 1.8% of Isthmus Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Isthmus Partners LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $15,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 446.2% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Visa by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 200.0% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was 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 three months, insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V opened at $325.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $583.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $311.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $325.89. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Key Stories 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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $385.00 price objective on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price objective on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note 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 research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.