Guardian Capital LLC Buys New Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Guardian Capital LLC bought a new stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,209 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $1,827,000. Visa accounts for about 1.6% of Guardian Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patron Partners LLC raised its stake in Visa by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. High Note Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 474 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC now owns 3,211 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Key Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Trump said he urged China to open its credit card market more to Visa, raising hopes for future international growth if market access improves. Reuters related coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Visa is expanding digital identity and card activation tools, while also launching AI-powered fan intelligence capabilities, reinforcing its innovation and product-growth story. Visa Links Tap Identity And AI Fan Data To Its Growth Story
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlighted strong spending trends and digital payments adoption, which generally support transaction volume for Visa’s network. Credit Card Charges Show This Glaring Divergence With The Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa CFO Chris Suh sold shares in a disclosed insider transaction, which may slightly pressure sentiment but does not change the company’s operating outlook. SEC Form 4 filing
• Negative Sentiment: Separate news about delays in U.S. green-card processing and Hungary’s visa-worker policy are mostly unrelated to Visa Inc.’s business and should have limited direct impact on the stock. US Delays Green Card Processing For Indians In Key Visa Categories

Visa Price Performance

V stock opened at $325.42 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $311.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.89. The stock has a market cap of $583.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $293.89 and a 1 year high of $375.51. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on V. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $403.00 target price (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $387.67.

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.