Maverick Capital Ltd. Buys 30,088 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Maverick Capital increased its Visa stake by 3.9% in the first quarter, buying 30,088 shares to bring its holdings to 806,951 shares valued at approximately $243.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.15% of Visa.
• Analysts remain bullish on Visa, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $399.41; recent targets range from $394 to $420.
• Visa reported quarterly EPS of $3.31 and revenue of $11.23 billion, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 17.1% year over year. The company also authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase program, though insiders sold $25.6 million of stock over the last quarter.

Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 806,951 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 30,088 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 2.8% of Maverick Capital Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Maverick Capital Ltd.'s holdings in Visa were worth $243,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Invariant Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $969,000. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its stake in Visa by 58.1% during the 1st quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 4,201 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Visa by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,455,834,000 after buying an additional 1,054,343 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its position in Visa by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 28,922 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $10,143,000 after buying an additional 6,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. acquired a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,966,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays began coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Visa from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $403.00 target price (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $394.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nineteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $399.41.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $362.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $338.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $325.18. The stock has a market cap of $650.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.75. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $365.14.

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 (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 period last year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.12 EPS for the current year.

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

Visa Company 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.

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.