Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 506,284 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management slashed its Visa stake by 96.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 506,284 shares and leaving it with 17,221 shares worth about $6.0 million.
• Despite that sale, Visa still has broad institutional support, with 82.15% of shares held by institutions and several firms recently increasing their positions.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, beating estimates with $3.31 EPS and $11.23 billion in revenue, while also announcing a $20 billion share buyback and a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 96.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,221 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 506,284 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Visa were worth $6,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of V. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 110.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,954,937 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,396,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,289 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 286.4% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,526,026 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $862,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872,362 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,022,411 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,059,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658,954 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Visa during the third quarter valued at approximately $565,684,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 73.4% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,197,405 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,091,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353,441 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Visa

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on V. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Macquarie Infrastructure reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $387.67.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, 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 owned 9,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% 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. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:V opened at $329.21 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $312.77 and a 200 day moving average of $325.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $590.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.78.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.76 earnings per share. Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is 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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