I Still Can't Believe Visa Inc. Spent Over $7 Billion on Share Buybacks

I Still Can't Believe Visa Inc. Spent Over $7 Billion on Share Buybacks

The market capitalization of a great many companies on the stock exchange doesn't total $7 billion. That's a large pile of money. Yet it was that net amount (to be technical, it was $7.06 billion) that credit card giant Visa (NYSE: V) ultimately spent on share buybacks in 2016.

I'm not generally a fan of buybacks, although I accept that at times they can be useful for companies and beneficial for shareholders. But Visa's spend is simply excessive.

A huge share-repurchase tab is not unusual in the credit card sphere. Visa's rivals MasterCard (NYSE: MA), American Express (NYSE: AXP), and Discover Financial Services are also active buyers of their own stock.

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Source: Fool.com