L & S Advisors Inc Increases Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• L & S Advisors Inc increased its Visa stake by 1,283.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 12,323 shares valued at about $4.32 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 quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share and authorized a new $20 billion share buyback, while analysts remain broadly bullish with an average Buy rating and target price near $387.67.

L & S Advisors Inc grew its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1,283.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,323 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 11,432 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc's holdings in Visa were worth $4,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Visa by 446.2% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted 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 acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $325.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $583.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.78. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $311.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price target on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America began coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $387.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key 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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