Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 179,754 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Los Angeles Capital Management cut its Visa stake by 64.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 179,754 shares and leaving it with 97,598 shares valued at about $33.7 million.
• Visa continues to draw bullish analyst coverage, with multiple firms issuing Buy or Strong Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $387.78, above its recent trading level around $324.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, including EPS of $3.31 on revenue of $11.23 billion, and also announced a $20 billion share repurchase program along with a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share.

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 64.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,598 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 179,754 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $33,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Visa by 446.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in Visa by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC raised 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on V. Evercore set a $350.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.78.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE V opened at $324.03 on Monday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $316.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $324.48. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $581.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.77.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa is testing private stablecoin settlement with Brale on the Canton Network, a proof of concept aimed at enabling institutional payments with more privacy and efficiency. Investors may see this as evidence that Visa is expanding its payments infrastructure into a potentially high-growth use case. Article: Visa tests private stablecoin settlement with Brale, Canton
• Positive Sentiment: Visa’s new partnership with Brale reinforces its stablecoin strategy and suggests the company is actively building tools for institutional blockchain settlement, which could strengthen long-term growth prospects. Article: How Visa Advances Stablecoin Payment Vision With Brale Partnership?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and others are collaborating on a new stablecoin platform suggest major payments players are validating the opportunity, which may help Visa if the initiative gains merchant traction. Article: Visa Mastercard Stablecoin Push Tests Circle USDC And Rich Valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa also announced leadership appointments in Asia Pacific to support value-added services and Southeast Asia growth, a positive operating update but likely not a major near-term stock driver. Article: Visa Announces Asia Pacific Leadership Appointments to Scale Value-Added Services and Southeast Asia Growth
• Negative Sentiment: News that Visa and Mastercard payments are being halted in Cuba adds a small regional headwind, though the revenue impact is likely limited compared with Visa’s overall global business. Article: Visa, Mastercard payments to be halted in Cuba amid new US sanctions

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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