Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 1,054,343 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Vanguard increased its stake in Visa by 1,054,343 shares in Q4 to 160,975,832 shares, representing about 8.84% of Visa and making the stock Vanguard's 13th-largest holding.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive: the consensus rating is a Buy (seven Strong Buys, 19 Buys, three Holds) with an average price target of $387.79, though several firms recently trimmed targets.
• Visa beat its latest quarter estimates with EPS of $3.17 (versus $3.14 expected) and revenue of $10.90B (up 14.6% YoY), reflecting strong profitability (net margin ~50.2%) and a market cap around $562B.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 1,054,343 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.8% of Vanguard Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.84% of Visa worth $56,455,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of V. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Visa by 446.2% in 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 in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Visa by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial cut their target price on Visa from $372.00 to $361.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. UBS Group cut their target price on Visa from $425.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup cut their target price on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Freedom Capital raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.79.

Visa Trading Up 0.1%

V stock opened at $309.68 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $309.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $327.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The firm has a market cap of $562.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.69 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. Visa's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 12.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.

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.