Stephens Inc. AR Buys 9,996 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR boosted its Visa stake by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 9,996 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 123,415 shares valued at about $43.3 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.31 beating estimates and revenue rising 17.1% year over year to $11.23 billion, supported by solid spending and digital payments trends.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share and a new $20 billion share buyback program, while analysts remain generally bullish with an average target price near $387.67.

Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,415 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 9,996 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Visa were worth $43,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of V. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 50.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $6,522,000 after acquiring an additional 6,883 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,733,000 after acquiring an additional 4,817 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its stake in shares of Visa by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of Visa by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 1,133 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Visa by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 18,367 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $6,521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa News Summary

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

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V opened at $325.42 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $293.89 and a 1 year high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $583.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $311.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $325.89.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. The business's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $389.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $385.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $387.67.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, 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 value of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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