Cooper Financial Group Purchases 1,576 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Cooper Financial Group raised its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 14.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,767 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Visa were worth $4,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 446.2% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 102.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $403.00 target price (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price target (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $387.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $413.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 57,272 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total transaction of $20,902,561.84. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 49,662 shares in the company, valued at $18,125,140.14. This represents a 53.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total transaction of $3,608,455.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,219,704.26. This trade represents a 40.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 101,398 shares of company stock valued at $35,831,433 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $370.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $344.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $326.79. The firm has a market cap of $663.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.74. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $373.97.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 67.68% and a net margin of 50.78%.The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is 22.79%.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa agreed to acquire fraud-intelligence provider BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash. The transaction would expand Visa’s artificial-intelligence and cybersecurity capabilities, helping banks and merchants combat account takeovers, scams and other increasingly costly payment fraud. The deal also strengthens Visa’s competitive position against Mastercard in payment security. Visa vs. Mastercard: BioCatch Acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Visa is moving stablecoin capabilities into production through Visa Direct and a partnership with Zero Hash, enabling stablecoin payouts and prefunding across eligible cards, accounts and wallets in 195 countries and territories. This could broaden Visa’s cross-border payment volume and preserve its role as digital currencies expand. Visa Stablecoin Cross-Border Payouts
• Positive Sentiment: Western Union’s Visa-branded Stablecard, initially launching in 37 markets, will let users hold and spend a dollar-backed stablecoin anywhere Visa is accepted. The rollout offers Visa additional exposure to remittances, digital wallets and cross-border transactions. Western Union Stablecard on Visa Network
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry commentary remains constructive on cross-border payment growth and strategic expansion, but warns that higher technology spending and pressure on consumer spending could weigh on margins across transaction-processing companies. Financial Transaction Stocks Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Visa reportedly cut approximately 2,600 jobs, including 320 positions in California. Although the restructuring could improve efficiency and lower costs over time, the scale of the layoffs may raise concerns about near-term disruption, employee morale and management execution. Visa Job Cuts

About Visa

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.