Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 6,438 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,927 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 6,438 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Visa were worth $34,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 7.8% during the first quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 256,177 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $77,427,000 after buying an additional 18,554 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Visa by 125.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 937,519 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $283,356,000 after acquiring an additional 520,786 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC increased its position in Visa by 7.7% during the first quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 10,919 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,300,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC increased its position in Visa by 19.9% during the first quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Finally, Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in Visa by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 1,004,331 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $303,549,000 after purchasing an additional 5,046 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $397.91.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $349.05. The stock had a trading volume of 4,701,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,985,494. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $330.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $325.05. The company has a market capitalization of $626.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $365.02.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of Visa stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.