Visa Inc. $V Position Decreased by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich reduced its Visa stake by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 60,142 shares and leaving it with 2.77 million shares worth about $973.5 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.31 and revenue of $11.23 billion, both ahead of Wall Street estimates. Revenue rose 17.1% year over year.
• The company also announced a $20 billion share buyback and a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, while analysts largely remain positive with an average rating of “Buy.”

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,772,290 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 60,142 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 2.7% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.15% of Visa worth $973,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.7% during the 4th 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. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Visa by 0.8% in 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 buying an additional 193,288 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Visa by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,114,674 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,475,403,000 after buying an additional 530,995 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Visa by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,458,913 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,253,224,000 after buying an additional 399,845 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Visa by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,913,505 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,067,032,000 after buying an additional 1,298,435 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa expanded its Flexible Credential offering in the U.K. with Zilch and Thredd, allowing consumers to choose among payment options at checkout through one card. That supports Visa’s push into more flexible, digital-first payment experiences and could help drive network usage. Visa Flexible Credential Brings More Flexible Ways to Pay to Zilch Cardholders in the UK
• Positive Sentiment: Visa was highlighted in commentary about strong digital payments trends, with analysts pointing to contactless payments, BNPL adoption, and cross-border growth as long-term tailwinds for the financial transaction sector. 5 Financial Transaction Stocks to Watch Amid Digital Advancements
• Positive Sentiment: Visa continues to be viewed as a beneficiary of strong consumer spending and digital payment growth, with another article noting record U.S. consumption as a favorable backdrop for fintech and card networks. U.S. Consumer Spending Tops $21.86T: 5 Fintech Stocks Under $75
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa received additional attention for rolling out tap-based identity verification with Fidelity Bank Bahamas, another sign of product innovation but not necessarily an immediate earnings catalyst. Visa launches tap-based identity verification with Fidelity Bank Bahamas
• Negative Sentiment: Visa CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares at an average price of $324.81, trimming his ownership by more than half. Insider selling can weigh on sentiment, even if it does not change the company’s fundamentals. SEC Form 4 filing

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of Visa stock opened at $320.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $575.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $311.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $326.07. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.Visa's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Visa declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $387.67.

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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