UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Buys 12,530 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp increased its Visa stake by 19.1% in the first quarter, buying 12,530 additional shares to bring its total to 78,155 shares worth about $23.6 million.
• Visa’s fundamentals remain solid: the company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, posted 17.1% year-over-year revenue growth, and authorized a $20 billion share buyback program.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Visa, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $397.91, even as some analysts adjusted targets in recent reports.

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 19.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,155 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 12,530 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 1.3% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's holdings in Visa were worth $23,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in V. Clayton Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 446.2% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 200.0% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the 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 sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% 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 have sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

V has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $394.00 target price for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $420.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $397.91.

Visa Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Visa stock opened at $349.05 on Monday. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $330.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.86. The stock has a market cap of $626.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $365.02.

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, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in 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 often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

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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