Vest Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Visa by 9.7% in Q4, buying 15,498 shares to hold 176,066 shares valued at about $61.75 million, making Visa its 29th largest holding.
• Visa beat fiscal Q2 expectations — EPS $3.31 vs. $3.10 and revenue $11.23B vs. $10.74B (up 17.1% YoY) — and the board authorized a $20 billion share buyback while declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.67.
• Sell-side analysts maintain a consensus rating of Buy on Visa with an average price target of $387.25.

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,066 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 15,498 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 0.8% of Vest Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $61,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Visa by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,455,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,343 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Visa by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $8,463,484,000 after acquiring an additional 193,288 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Visa by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,114,674 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,475,403,000 after acquiring an additional 530,995 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Visa by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,458,913 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,253,224,000 after acquiring an additional 399,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Visa by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,913,505 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,067,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,435 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on V shares. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $387.00 target price on the stock. Evercore set a $350.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Visa from $372.00 to $361.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $387.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, 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 value of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% 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. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE V opened at $334.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $309.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $327.38. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The company has a market cap of $607.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 12.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.14%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

More Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 beat, revenue growth, and upgraded outlook — Visa reported fiscal Q2 EPS and revenue above Street forecasts, posted ~17% YoY revenue growth and raised its FY26 growth outlook, which underpins stronger near-term fundamentals. Business Wire: Q2 Results
• Positive Sentiment: $20B share buyback + dividend — The board authorized a new $20 billion multi-year repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend, boosting EPS potential and returning capital to shareholders. QuiverQuant: Buyback & Capital Returns
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — UBS raised its price target to $410 with a Buy and Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed overweight with a $400 target, providing fresh analyst support and upside relative to the current share level. Benzinga: Analyst Notes
• Positive Sentiment: Product/tech traction — Visa expanded its Agentic Ready program to Latin America and Asia (AI-driven, agentic payments) and broadened its stablecoin settlement pilot to Polygon, Base and others; stablecoin settlement run-rate is now ~$7B annualized, signaling long-term optionality beyond core rails. PYMNTS: Agentic Ready Expansion Cointelegraph: Stablecoin Pilot
• Neutral Sentiment: AI narrative support — Coverage highlights that Visa could benefit as AI agents transact with cards, boosting investor sentiment on future payments volume (largely thematic, long horizon). Yahoo Finance: AI Agents Story
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer/analyst context — Some analysts note Mastercard may catch similar momentum; these cross-company takes help frame sector moves but are secondary to Visa’s own results. Benzinga: Peer Commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional/ownership notes — Coverage on large fund positions and notable holders (e.g., Lone Pine interest) provides context on potential flows but doesn’t immediately change fundamentals. InsiderMonkey: Institutional Interest
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/settlement risk — Retailer objections to a proposed ~ $200B swipe-fee settlement with merchants remain a headline risk; an adverse resolution or expensive settlement could pressure margins or lead to longer regulatory scrutiny. PYMNTS: Settlement Objections
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Recent disclosures show net insider sales activity, which some investors watch as a mild negative signal on near-term insider conviction. QuiverQuant: Insider Activity

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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