Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Bollard Group LLC

Key Points

• Bollard Group LLC reduced its Visa stake by 29% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,646 shares and leaving it with 26,098 shares worth about $9.15 million.
• Visa posted strong quarterly results, reporting earnings of $3.31 per share versus $3.10 expected and revenue of $11.23 billion, up 17.1% year over year.
• The company is leaning into future payment technologies, including a partnership with OpenAI for AI-driven commerce and new AI, tokenization, and stablecoin settlement tools, even as some investors warn stablecoins could pressure card networks long term.

Bollard Group LLC cut its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,098 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 10,646 shares during the period. Bollard Group LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $9,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 446.2% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Visa by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 200.0% during the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa unveiled a major partnership with OpenAI to embed its payment network into ChatGPT, allowing AI agents to shop and complete purchases with user permission. This positions Visa to stay central to the next phase of digital commerce and could open a new payment channel. Visa Partners with OpenAI to Power the Next Generation of AI Commerce
• Positive Sentiment: Visa also announced new AI, tokenization, and stablecoin settlement tools for programmable commerce, signaling that management is investing to defend its competitive moat and adapt to faster-moving payment rails. Visa Launches AI and Stablecoin Tools to Power Agentic Commerce
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent commentary pieces highlight Visa’s earnings growth, balance-sheet strength, and its expanding role in AI-driven commerce, which may be reinforcing investor confidence in the stock. Earnings Growth & Price Strength Make Visa (V) a Stock to Watch
• Neutral Sentiment: One report noted that Cuba’s central bank will suspend all Visa and Mastercard transactions after a processing partnership collapsed due to U.S. sanctions. The direct financial impact appears limited, but it is a reminder of Visa’s exposure to geopolitical and sanctions-related disruptions. Cuba’s Central Bank to Suspend all Visa (V) and Mastercard Transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern also surfaced around stablecoins, with Bill Gurley saying Visa and Mastercard are “heavily threatened” by them. That reinforces the market’s view that next-generation payment technologies could pressure long-term card network economics if adoption accelerates. Bill Gurley says Visa, and Mastercard are “heavily threatened” by stablecoins

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on V. Bank of America began coverage on Visa in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Freedom Capital raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $387.78.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of V opened at $321.98 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $363.01. The stock's 50 day moving average is $318.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $324.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $577.55 billion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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