St. Louis Trust Co Acquires 4,289 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• St. Louis Trust Co more than doubled its Visa stake in Q4, buying 4,289 additional shares to own 8,174 shares worth about $2.87 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Visa, with a consensus Buy rating and average price target of $387.67, while several firms recently reiterated or issued positive ratings.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results with EPS of $3.31 and revenue of $11.23 billion, and it also announced a $20 billion share repurchase program plus a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share.

St. Louis Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 110.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,174 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 4,289 shares during the quarter. St. Louis Trust Co's holdings in Visa were worth $2,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 446.2% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 200.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Visa by 102.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 target price for the company. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.67.

Visa News Roundup

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

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of V opened at $329.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $590.53 billion, a PE ratio of 28.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $312.77 and a 200 day moving average of $325.42. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.Visa's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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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