Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Key Points

• Bailard Inc. trimmed its Visa stake by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,964 shares and leaving it with 154,467 shares valued at about $54.2 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $3.31 beating estimates and revenue of $11.23 billion topping forecasts, while revenue rose 17.1% year over year.
• The company also announced a $20 billion buyback program and a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, signaling continued shareholder returns.

Bailard Inc. decreased its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 154,467 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 6,964 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 1.2% of Bailard Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $54,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sonoma Allocations LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the third quarter valued at $710,000. Invariant Investment Management acquired a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $969,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Visa by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $56,455,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,343 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its position in shares of Visa by 2.6% in the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 574,043 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $198,596,000 after acquiring an additional 14,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 24.1% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 823,262 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $281,045,000 after acquiring an additional 159,906 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price objective on the stock. Freedom Capital raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.25.

Visa Stock Up 1.6%

V opened at $323.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $581.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.22, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $310.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $326.38.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

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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