Pacer Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors increased its Visa stake by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 155,789 shares worth about $54.6 million.
• Visa continues to draw strong analyst support, with multiple firms reiterating bullish ratings and an average price target of $387.67.
• The company reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also announcing a $20 billion share repurchase plan and a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,789 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 16,169 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $54,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Evercore set a $350.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.67.

Key Headlines Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa expanded its Flexible Credential offering in the U.K. with Zilch and Thredd, allowing consumers to choose among payment options at checkout through one card. That supports Visa’s push into more flexible, digital-first payment experiences and could help drive network usage. Visa Flexible Credential Brings More Flexible Ways to Pay to Zilch Cardholders in the UK
• Positive Sentiment: Visa was highlighted in commentary about strong digital payments trends, with analysts pointing to contactless payments, BNPL adoption, and cross-border growth as long-term tailwinds for the financial transaction sector. 5 Financial Transaction Stocks to Watch Amid Digital Advancements
• Positive Sentiment: Visa continues to be viewed as a beneficiary of strong consumer spending and digital payment growth, with another article noting record U.S. consumption as a favorable backdrop for fintech and card networks. U.S. Consumer Spending Tops $21.86T: 5 Fintech Stocks Under $75
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa received additional attention for rolling out tap-based identity verification with Fidelity Bank Bahamas, another sign of product innovation but not necessarily an immediate earnings catalyst. Visa launches tap-based identity verification with Fidelity Bank Bahamas
• Negative Sentiment: Visa CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares at an average price of $324.81, trimming his ownership by more than half. Insider selling can weigh on sentiment, even if it does not change the company’s fundamentals. SEC Form 4 filing

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the company'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 owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:V opened at $320.77 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $311.08 and a 200 day moving average of $326.07. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $575.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.78.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Visa announced that its board has authorized a stock 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 buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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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