Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 60.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 42,044 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 64,895 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings in Visa were worth $12,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 33.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,486,927 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,356,090,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,498 shares during the period. Bull Harbor Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter valued at about $769,000. Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its position in shares of Visa by 53.2% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 5,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,762,000 after acquiring an additional 2,017 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $8,998,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Visa by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 59,767 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $18,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Visa stock opened at $369.69 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $373.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $663.14 billion, a PE ratio of 31.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $339.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $325.38.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.40 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 66.68% and a net margin of 50.78%.The business's revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Results exceeded expectations: Visa reported adjusted earnings of $3.32 per share versus the $3.23 consensus and revenue of $11.63 billion, up 14.4% year over year. Payments volume surpassed $4 trillion, while cross-border activity, processed transactions and resilient consumer spending supported double-digit growth. Visa Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Cross-Border Volume Strength
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised price targets: JPMorgan increased its target to $450, Baird to $420, BMO to $405 and Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an overweight rating with a $410 target. The revisions reflect confidence in Visa’s fundamentals and continued payment growth. Visa Analyst Forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Growth initiatives remain active: Management highlighted AI-enabled commerce, stablecoin settlement, Visa Direct, commercial payments and value-added services as longer-term growth opportunities. The launch of X Money with a Visa-branded debit card could provide additional network activity. Visa Outlines Stablecoin Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder return: Visa declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, payable September 1 to shareholders of record August 11. Visa Dividend Announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Workforce restructuring: Visa plans to eliminate approximately 2,600 jobs, or 7% of its workforce, mainly in technology and product operations. The cuts may reduce costs and fund AI, stablecoin and B2B investments, but also signal a significant organizational transition. Visa Slashes Thousands of Jobs
• Negative Sentiment: Margin and valuation concerns: Shares faced pressure after the earnings release as investors focused on higher operating expenses and potential margin compression. Some analysts also view Visa’s premium valuation—roughly 26 times forward earnings—as limiting near-term upside. Visa Stock and Margin Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Market backdrop: A sharp oil-price increase tied to escalating U.S.-Iran tensions and uncertainty ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision pressured major equity indexes, creating a broader headwind for Visa’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $403.00 target price (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Visa from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $411.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,219,704.26. This trade represents a 40.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 44,126 shares of company stock valued at $14,928,871 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by 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.

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