Americana Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Americana Partners LLC boosted its Visa stake by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 17,765 additional shares and bringing its total to 80,045 shares worth about $28.1 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.31 per share and revenue of $11.23 billion, both ahead of analyst estimates. Revenue also rose 17.1% year over year.
• The company authorized a new $20 billion share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, while analysts maintained a generally bullish view with a consensus Buy rating and average price target of $387.67.

Americana Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 28.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 80,045 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 17,765 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $28,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of V. Invariant Investment Management purchased a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth $969,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,455,834,000 after buying an additional 1,054,343 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 24.1% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 823,262 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $281,045,000 after buying an additional 159,906 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 11.3% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,352,766 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $803,187,000 after buying an additional 238,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Visa by 4.7% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 527,530 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $180,088,000 after purchasing an additional 23,863 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

More Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa is expanding its push into digital payments by testing stablecoin settlement in Canada and advancing AI-enabled “agentic commerce” tools, which could support long-term transaction growth and keep the company relevant as payment methods evolve. Visa Tests Stablecoin Settlement And AI Commerce To Shape Future Fees
• Positive Sentiment: Visa’s partnership with Trip.com to target digital-first travelers in Asia-Pacific adds another growth avenue in travel spending, a high-volume category that can boost payment network activity. Visa and Trip.com Partner to Reach Digital-First Travelers in Asia-Pacific
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports framed Visa as a long-term beneficiary of crypto and blockchain adoption, but these pieces were more thesis-driven than near-term catalysts for the stock. Crypto and Blockchain Stocks Positioned for Long-Term Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa continues to receive favorable analyst coverage, with brokerages assigning an average “Buy” rating, which supports sentiment but does not appear to be a new catalyst. Visa Inc. Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Brokerages
• Negative Sentiment: Visa is facing renewed regulatory scrutiny in the U.K. and Europe, where authorities are pushing for more fee transparency and alternative payment options, raising the risk of pressure on card-network fees and market power. Should Visa & Mastercard Investors Worry About UK & Europe's Moves?
• Negative Sentiment: The UK Payments Systems Regulator also proposed new reporting rules for Visa and Mastercard after saying the two networks do not face effective competition, reinforcing concerns about tighter oversight. UK PSR proposes new reporting rules for Mastercard and Visa
• Negative Sentiment: Visa’s own fraud warnings highlight a rising threat from AI-powered scams and criminal targeting of consumers, which could increase compliance and security costs even if the company is helping defend against the problem. Visa Says Criminals Target People as Core Payment Security Tightens

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on V. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $395.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $385.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $387.67.

Visa Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of V stock opened at $329.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $590.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $375.51. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $312.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.42.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share 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 company's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.34%.

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.

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