RiverFront Investment Group LLC Boosts Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• RiverFront Investment Group boosted its Visa stake by 48.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 20,068 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 61,813 shares valued at about $21.7 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 quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share and a $20 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence in its financial position and future cash generation.

RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 48.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,813 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 20,068 shares during the quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $21,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Patron Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 0.6% in the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the third quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. High Note Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 6.8% in the third quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 474 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 2.0% in the third quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets started 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. Freedom Capital upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.67.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $325.42 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $311.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $325.74. 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 1.74 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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 Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.

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