Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Legal & General reduced its Visa stake by 5.2%, selling 654,513 shares and retaining 11.9 million shares worth approximately $4.08 billion. Institutional investors collectively own 82.15% of Visa.
• Analysts remain bullish, with Visa receiving a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $413.58. Recent quarterly results also exceeded expectations, with revenue rising 14.4% year over year to $11.63 billion.
• Visa shares opened at $382.35, near their 52-week high, while the company maintains a $20 billion share-repurchase authorization and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share. CEO Ryan McInerney sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 5.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,896,313 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 654,513 shares during the period. Visa makes up about 0.9% of Legal & General Group Plc's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.67% of Visa worth $4,081,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 200.0% during the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the second quarter valued at $33,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on V shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $406.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and issued a $427.00 price objective (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $435.00 price objective (up from $430.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $413.58.

Key Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Mastercard reached fresh records as aggregate U.S. spending remained healthy, despite consumers becoming more selective and retail companies issuing cautious warnings. Strong payment volumes support Visa’s transaction and fee revenue. Visa and Mastercard shares hit fresh records, underscoring a resilient U.S. consumer
• Positive Sentiment: Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot reached an annualized run rate of approximately $7 billion after expanding across nine blockchains. The development strengthens Visa’s position in emerging digital-payment infrastructure and could create additional long-term transaction opportunities. Circle CEO Allaire Maps Stablecoins’ Next Act as Global Payment Rails
• Positive Sentiment: President Donald Trump’s financial disclosure showed purchases of Visa shares, adding a headline-level endorsement from a prominent investor and contributing to market interest in the stock. Visa Stock Climbs After Trump Buys Millions in Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Visa’s monitoring program for Hims & Hers Health highlights the network’s ability to enforce dispute controls and collect penalties when merchants generate excessive chargebacks. The episode reinforces Visa’s risk-management role without exposing it to the merchant’s customer-acquisition or regulatory costs. Visa Just Put Hims & Hers in the Penalty Box—Here’s Why It Matters
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Ryan McInerney is scheduled to speak at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on September 8. The presentation could provide updates on spending trends, stablecoins and regulation, but no new financial guidance was announced. Visa to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
• Negative Sentiment: McInerney sold 5,875 Visa shares worth approximately $2.16 million, reducing his direct ownership by 27.9%. The sale occurred under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, making it less concerning than discretionary selling, but it may still draw limited attention from investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total transaction of $2,161,236.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,582,059.38. This trade represents a 27.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $6,625,440. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 96,634 shares of company stock worth $34,537,016 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Stock Up 3.0%

V opened at $382.35 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $354.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $329.98. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $383.43. 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 stock has a market cap of $682.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.74.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Visa declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Company 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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