Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Marathon Asset Management Ltd

Key Points

• Marathon Asset Management Ltd cut its Visa stake by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,439 shares and ending with 129,271 shares valued at about $45.3 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy: several large funds, including Vanguard, Capital World Investors, and Invesco, increased holdings, and institutions and hedge funds now own 82.15% of Visa shares.
• Visa reported strong fundamentals and shareholder returns, beating quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, authorizing a $20 billion buyback, and declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share.

Marathon Asset Management Ltd reduced its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,271 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 10,439 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 1.7% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Marathon Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Visa were worth $45,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in V. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Visa by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,455,834,000 after buying an additional 1,054,343 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in Visa by 0.8% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $8,463,484,000 after buying an additional 193,288 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Visa by 4.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,114,674 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,475,403,000 after buying an additional 530,995 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Visa by 3.3% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,458,913 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,253,224,000 after buying an additional 399,845 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Visa by 12.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,913,505 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,067,032,000 after buying an additional 1,298,435 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Trip.com Group announced a strategic collaboration to improve travel experiences in Asia Pacific, using Visa’s global payments network to support personalized offers and seamless transactions. Visa and Trip.com Group Ink Strategic Collaboration, Enabling Consumers to Chase Their Passions Through Travel
• Positive Sentiment: Visa launched its “Tap In” campaign for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, reinforcing its brand, contactless payments messaging, and support for small businesses and community programs in host countries. Visa and Jason Sudeikis Turn the Simplest Goal in Football Into the Biggest Fan Moments at the FIFA World Cup 2026™
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Visa as a blue-chip and long-term holding, citing its payments growth drivers and inclusion among stocks expected to benefit from AI and broader consumer spending trends. Buy 5 Blue-Chip Stocks to Enhance Your Portfolio Returns in 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Visa’s conference presentation at J.P. Morgan’s technology/media/communications event keeps the company in the spotlight and may give investors more confidence in management’s growth strategy. Visa Inc. (V) Presents at J.P. Morgan 54th Annual Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around agentic payments, competitor moves, and broader payments industry trends suggests the market is focused on how Visa will adapt to AI-driven commerce, but these items are mostly speculative for now. When AI shops for you: Visa and Mastercard bet on agentic payments
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa was also mentioned in market lists of trending and high-conviction blue-chip names, which supports visibility but does not materially change fundamentals on its own. Visa Inc. (V) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on competition in digital payments and the possibility that new payment models from rivals could pressure Visa’s long-term network dominance, though no direct business setback was reported. TikTok expands financial ambitions through Brazil banking push and UK payments play

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on V. Weiss Ratings lowered Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 target price on the stock. Macquarie Infrastructure reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 target price on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $387.67.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $329.93 on Wednesday. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $311.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $325.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $591.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.78.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.76 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

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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