Novare Capital Management LLC Buys 21,627 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Novare Capital Management increased its Visa stake by 61.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 21,627 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 56,801 shares worth about $19.9 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.31 beating estimates and revenue of $11.23 billion topping forecasts, while revenue rose 17.1% year over year.
• The company also announced a $20 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, signaling continued capital returns to shareholders.

Novare Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 61.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,801 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 21,627 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 1.5% of Novare Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Novare Capital Management LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $19,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invariant Investment Management purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at $969,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Visa by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $56,455,834,000 after buying an additional 1,054,343 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Visa by 24.1% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 823,262 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $281,045,000 after buying an additional 159,906 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Visa by 11.3% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,352,766 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $803,187,000 after buying an additional 238,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in Visa by 4.7% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 527,530 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $180,088,000 after buying an additional 23,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $325.42 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $311.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $325.89. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $375.51. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $583.73 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.78.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.76 earnings per share. Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Visa in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Freedom Capital upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.67.

Visa News Roundup

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

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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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