Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Makes New $112.41 Million Investment in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Vaughan Nelson Investment Management opened a new position in Visa during the first quarter, buying 371,925 shares valued at about $112.4 million. The stake represents 1.1% of the firm’s portfolio and its 20th-largest holding.
• Visa reported strong first-quarter earnings, with EPS of $3.31 topping estimates of $3.10 and revenue of $11.23 billion beating expectations. Revenue rose 17.1% year over year, and the company also announced a $20 billion share buyback.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with several firms reiterating buy or outperform ratings and an average price target of about $387.78. The stock was trading around $327.78, with Visa also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 371,925 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $112,411,000. Visa comprises 1.1% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,455,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054,343 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,798,151 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $29,038,140,000 after purchasing an additional 626,821 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,042,586 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $15,411,395,000 after purchasing an additional 388,996 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,092,294 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $14,411,480,000 after purchasing an additional 716,218 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $8,463,484,000 after purchasing an additional 193,288 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents 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 own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Truist Financial set a $371.00 target price on shares of Visa and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $387.00 target price on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.78.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $327.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $587.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $359.66. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $321.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $324.18.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

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