Visa Inc. $V Position Lowered by Cortland Associates Inc. MO

Key Points

• Cortland Associates reduced its Visa position by 3.2% in the third quarter, selling 5,026 shares and retaining 153,366 shares valued at approximately $55.1 million. Visa remains the firm’s largest holding, representing about 8% of its portfolio.
• Analyst sentiment remains strongly positive: Visa has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $440.03, while recent firms raised targets as high as $500. The company also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up 13.2% year over year.
• Visa raised its quarterly dividend to $0.78 per share, or $3.12 annually, though the stock trades at a relatively high valuation of 34.52 times earnings. Investors are also monitoring payments-mix shifts, alternative payment competition, and rising technology costs.

Cortland Associates Inc. MO decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153,366 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 5,026 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up approximately 8.0% of Cortland Associates Inc. MO's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Cortland Associates Inc. MO's holdings in Visa were worth $55,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. John Boyer Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the second quarter worth $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the second quarter worth $33,000. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Portfolio Resources Advisor Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter worth $35,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher analyst target: Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an Overweight rating and raised its price target to $500, citing Visa’s strong fundamentals while highlighting the importance of monitoring its payments mix. Visa Stocks Rise 2.4% With Higher Cantor Target Facing a Payments-Mix Test
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Visa to Rank #2, or Buy, reflecting growing confidence in its earnings prospects. The upgrade may encourage additional buying and supports the broader analyst-positive narrative. Visa Upgraded to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Stablecoin adoption is expanding: Visa reported a surge in stablecoin use for business payments, offering a potential long-term growth avenue and reinforcing its role in emerging payment technologies. Visa Reports Surge in Stablecoin Use for Business Payments
• Positive Sentiment: Credit trends remain supportive: Recent big-bank results suggest consumers are managing credit-card debt relatively well, reducing concern that credit deterioration will hurt payment volumes. What the Big Banks’ Third-Quarter Reports Say About Credit Card Borrowers
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa is receiving substantial investor attention, while analysts are publishing updated expectations for its upcoming quarterly results. This may increase trading interest but does not itself change the company’s fundamentals. Investors Heavily Search Visa
• Negative Sentiment: Industry risks remain: Visa and other payment networks face higher technology costs and inflation pressure. Investors are also watching whether shifts in the payments mix and competition from alternative payment methods could constrain growth. Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights Visa and Payments Companies

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,582,059.38. This trade represents a 27.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.35, for a total transaction of $773,377.80. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,018,365.40. This represents a 9.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 21,520 shares of company stock worth $7,960,757 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on V shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $466.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Mizuho set a $440.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $479.00 price target (up from $430.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $440.03.

Visa Stock Performance

V stock opened at $425.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $382.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $342.74. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $426.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $759.45 billion, a PE ratio of 34.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.77.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.04. Visa had a return on equity of 70.50% and a net margin of 51.20%. The company had revenue of $12.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 15.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Visa's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.74%.

About Visa

Visa Inc NYSE: V is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic payments between consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments. Through its VisaNet network, the company authorizes, clears and settles transactions made with Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, while generally not issuing cards, extending credit or setting cardholder account terms.

Visa provides payment products and services for consumer, commercial and government payments, as well as digital commerce and money movement.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.