VELA Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• VELA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Visa by 1,673.6% in Q4, acquiring an additional 4,000 shares to hold 4,239 shares worth about $1.49 million.
• Visa reported stronger-than-expected Q1 results (EPS $3.31 vs. $3.10 consensus; revenue $11.23B, up 17.1% YoY), and its board authorized a $20.00 billion share buyback while declaring a $0.67 quarterly dividend.
• CEO Ryan McInerney sold 31,455 shares under a 10b5-1 plan (a ~67.5% cut to his holdings), while institutional investors own roughly 82.15% of the stock and insiders just 0.12%.

VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1,673.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,239 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $1,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of V. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $6,522,000 after buying an additional 6,883 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,733,000 after buying an additional 4,817 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its holdings in Visa by 4.6% in the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,834,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Visa by 16.9% in the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 1,133 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Visa by 13.8% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 18,367 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $6,521,000 after buying an additional 2,230 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction 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 at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm's 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. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of V opened at $328.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $596.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $310.11 and a 200 day moving average of $327.30. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.34%.

Visa News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong momentum and analyst support — Coverage pieces are calling Visa a momentum name after solid fundamentals and style‑score metrics that favor growth stocks; UBS and other houses have lifted targets, adding buy‑side pressure. Why Visa is a Top Momentum Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Stablecoin settlement expansion — Visa has broadened its stablecoin pilot to nine blockchains and says settlement volume is at roughly a $7B annualized run‑rate, which increases optionality for non‑bank settlement rails and could accelerate new payment flows. This supports growth and diversification of revenue sources. Visa Expands Stablecoin Pilot
• Positive Sentiment: Agentic/AI payments roll‑out — Visa is scaling its "Agentic Ready" program across APAC/LatAm to capture volume from AI agent‑initiated commerce; if Visa secures the rails for agent payments, it protects future fee pools. Visa Launches Agentic Ready
• Positive Sentiment: Crypto‑card volume accelerating — On‑chain crypto card spending has surged (reports cite a ~500% rise to ~$600M/month) with Visa capturing the lion’s share of that flow, highlighting near‑term volume upside. Crypto Card Spending Surges
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend and buyback mix — Visa declared a $0.67 quarterly dividend and authorized a $20B repurchase (about 3.6% of shares). Both return capital and signal management confidence, but buybacks can be perceived differently depending on valuation and timing. Insider Filing / Company Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer results and sector noise — Mastercard also reported strong results but its stock moved differently, showing the sector can react idiosyncratically to similar beats; investors are weighing valuation vs. durable growth. Mastercard Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale by the CEO — CEO Ryan McInerney sold 31,455 shares (executed under a 10b5‑1 plan), cutting his holdings substantially; even planned sales can spook investors and add short‑term selling pressure. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and structural risks — European moves (digital euro debate) and the rise of alternative rails/agentic commerce raise the prospect that some flows could bypass traditional card economics over time, creating execution and margin risks that keep some investors cautious. Europe Digital Euro Debate

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $385.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Macquarie Infrastructure reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $415.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $387.25.

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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