Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 85,700 Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Visa during the first quarter, buying 85,700 shares valued at about $25.9 million. The stake now represents roughly 0.5% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.31 beating estimates and revenue of $11.23 billion topping expectations. Revenue rose 17.1% year over year, and the company also posted robust profitability metrics.
• The company’s board authorized a $20 billion share buyback, and Visa also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share for an annualized yield of about 0.8%. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus Buy rating and a $387.78 price target.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 85,700 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $25,902,000. Visa comprises about 0.5% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chapman Financial Group LLC raised its position in Visa by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC now owns 3,211 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd boosted its holdings in Visa by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 9,447 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Bank OZK increased its position in Visa by 3.7% in the third quarter. Bank OZK now owns 858 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,710 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Visa by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. now owns 1,598 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Visa

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa 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 owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V 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. The stock 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 has a 50-day moving average of $323.36 and a 200-day moving average of $324.30. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $359.66.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The business 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%. Visa's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

V has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $415.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.78.

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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