Sapient Capital LLC Has $9.34 Million Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Sapient Capital cut its Visa stake by 76.1% in the first quarter, selling 98,654 shares and retaining 30,910 shares valued at $9.34 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 82.15% of Visa.
• Visa exceeded quarterly expectations with EPS of $3.32 and revenue of $11.63 billion, up 14.4% year over year. Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with the stock carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $411.77.
• Visa declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share and has authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase program, allowing it to buy back up to 3.6% of outstanding shares.

Sapient Capital LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 76.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,910 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 98,654 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $9,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Visa by 867.6% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,213,610 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,880,595,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,762 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 29,706.3% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,332,947 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $2,216,310,000 after purchasing an additional 7,308,345 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 12,497.1% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 3,378,039 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,184,712,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,508,089 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,282,472,000 after buying an additional 2,116,463 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $416.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Visa from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and set a $427.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $411.77.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $366.33 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $373.97. The stock's 50 day moving average is $341.12 and its 200-day moving average is $325.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $657.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.74.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. Visa's revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.79%.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 101,398 shares of company stock valued at $35,831,433 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

More Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings continue to support the stock. Visa reported fiscal third-quarter EPS of $3.32, above the $3.23 consensus, while revenue reached $11.63 billion, up 14.4% year over year and ahead of expectations. The results reinforce confidence in payment-volume growth and Visa’s high-margin business model. Visa Trading Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “Overweight” rating, while BMO Capital Markets, JPMorgan and Robert W. Baird forecast additional price appreciation. One fair-value estimate rose from $398.83 to $411.63, reflecting optimism about payment volumes, value-added services and potential stablecoin-related products. Visa Stock Sees Modest Fair Value Lift
• Positive Sentiment: Restructuring could improve efficiency. Visa plans to eliminate roughly 2,600 jobs, or about 7% of its workforce, as artificial intelligence and other technology reshape operations. Although the cuts may create near-term charges, investors could view lower long-term costs and greater productivity favorably. Visa Layoffs Will Cut 7 Percent of Its Workforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive developments bear watching. X Money launched with a Visa debit card, peer-to-peer transfers and 3% cashback, potentially generating transaction activity for Visa while also intensifying competition in digital payments and consumer wallets. Elon Musk Aims at Venmo With One Bold Perk
• Negative Sentiment: Job cuts may raise execution and sentiment concerns. The scale of the layoffs highlights Visa’s efforts to adapt to AI-driven changes and could unsettle employees or investors if restructuring disrupts growth initiatives. Visa Slashes Thousands of Jobs in Efficiency Push

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report).

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.