PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Trims Position in Visa Inc. $V

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,760,408 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 106,780 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $834,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its holdings in Visa by 867.6% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,213,610 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,880,595,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,762 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 29,706.3% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,332,947 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,216,310,000 after acquiring an additional 7,308,345 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in Visa by 12,497.1% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 3,378,039 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,184,712,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Visa by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,508,089 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,282,472,000 after buying an additional 2,116,463 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE V opened at $355.94 on Wednesday. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $365.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $638.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $335.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $325.08.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share 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 business 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. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.13 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 paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $403.00 target price (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $398.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.