Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. Acquires New Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,294 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $2,507,000. Visa accounts for 1.9% of Littlejohn Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 446.2% in the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Visa by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on V shares. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $350.00 price target on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $397.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 Visa 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 $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 63,064 shares of company stock valued at $21,289,800. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa is participating in the launch of the Open USD stablecoin initiative alongside major players like Stripe, Google, and BlackRock, a sign that the company is staying central to the next wave of digital payments and money movement. Visa and Google Sign on to Use Money Movement Stablecoin OpenUSD
• Positive Sentiment: Visa’s new travel platform expansion and cross-border partnership push could support transaction growth, especially as travel and experience spending remain strong. Visa redefines its role in travel with the global expansion of Visa Destinations
• Positive Sentiment: Visa said online deal hunting is helping consumers keep spending on discretionary purchases, which is encouraging for payment volume trends. Visa Says Online Deal Hunting Sustains Consumers’ Discretionary Spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa also unveiled smartphone-based tools for small businesses to accept payments through Visa Pay, Visa Accept and Visa Direct, which supports its long-term growth story but is more incremental near term. Visa Brings Card Acceptance to SMB Smartphones
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Ryan McInerney sold 20,970 shares in a pre-arranged transaction, which can create a small amount of investor caution even though it was conducted under a 10b5-1 plan. SEC filing for CEO stock sale

Visa Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $342.63 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $359.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $324.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $324.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $614.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.77.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Visa declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management 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.