Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 583,683 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 32,892 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 0.9% of Candriam S.C.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Visa were worth $176,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clayton Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 446.2% during the 4th 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 raised its holdings in Visa by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Visa by 200.0% in the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $350.00 price target on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays started coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $420.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $403.00 price objective (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $397.91.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $349.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $330.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $325.05. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $365.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.76 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 reacquire 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 have sold a total of 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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