Leeward Financial Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Leeward Financial Partners LLC cut its Visa stake by 79.6% in the first quarter, selling 13,708 shares and ending with 3,503 shares valued at about $1.06 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, posting $3.31 EPS on revenue of $11.23 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations and up 17.1% year over year.
• The company’s board authorized a $20 billion share repurchase program, and analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $387.78.

Leeward Financial Partners LLC reduced its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 79.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,503 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 13,708 shares during the quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $1,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its position in Visa by 446.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew 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 last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Visa by 200.0% in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings cut Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $387.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $389.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.78.

Key Visa News

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

Visa Stock Up 1.9%

Visa stock opened at $336.96 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 $359.66. The company has a market cap of $604.43 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $323.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $324.30.

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 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 analysts' expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. Visa's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 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 stock is undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.34%.

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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