Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 7,455 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. reduced its Visa stake by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,455 shares and leaving it with 175,327 shares valued at about $61.5 million.
• Visa beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting $3.31 EPS versus the $3.10 consensus and revenue of $11.23 billion, up 17.1% year over year.
• The company also authorized a $20 billion share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, payable June 1, while analysts remain broadly bullish with a consensus Buy rating.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 175,327 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 7,455 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.8% of Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Visa were worth $61,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Plancorp LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 5,437 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,543 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $11,413,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Freemont Management S.A. lifted its stake in Visa by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Freemont Management S.A. now owns 900 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,033 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,656,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rayburn West Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth $1,225,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V opened at $320.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $575.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $375.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $326.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.Visa's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. 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 presently 23.34%.

More Visa News

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 stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore set a $350.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.67.

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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