Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $193.25 Million Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 22.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 639,378 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 115,699 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 2.7% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $193,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 626,821 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 0.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $14,411,480,000 after purchasing an additional 716,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Visa by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,835,336 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $8,359,291,000 after purchasing an additional 398,459 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $403.00 target price (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.91.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total value of $3,608,455.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,219,704.26. The trade was a 40.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V stock traded up $0.85 on Friday, hitting $349.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,701,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,985,494. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $365.02. The company has a market capitalization of $626.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $330.81 and its 200-day moving average is $325.05. 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 (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business’s revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.76 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.