Madison Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Madison Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 9.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 389,869 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 34,321 shares during the period. Visa comprises 1.5% of Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $117,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Visa by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $6,522,000 after buying an additional 6,883 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,733,000 after buying an additional 4,817 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its position in shares of Visa by 4.6% during the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its position in shares of Visa by 16.9% during the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 1,133 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 18,367 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $6,521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,230 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Robert W. Baird set a $412.00 target price on shares of Visa and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $371.00 price objective on Visa and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of Visa stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,219,704.26. This trade represents a 40.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of V stock opened at $361.25 on Tuesday. 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 market capitalization of $648.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $335.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $325.05. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $365.14.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its 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. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.