Visa Inc. $V Stock: Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Holdings

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services reduced its Visa stake by 1.3% in the third quarter, selling 7,606 shares. It retained 578,379 shares valued at about $207.8 million.
• Visa reported quarterly earnings of $3.48 per share and revenue of $12.14 billion, both above analyst expectations; revenue grew 13.2% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.78 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remained broadly positive: the stock had a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $440.82.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 578,379 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 7,606 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $207,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. John Boyer Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Portfolio Resources Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 307.7% during the third quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa reported record fourth-quarter and full-year results, with adjusted earnings up 17% year over year, and raised its quarterly dividend by more than 16% to $0.78. The results and higher payout signal continued business growth and management confidence. Article: Visa Reports Record Earnings and Dividend Hike
• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $470 and maintained a Buy rating, adding to positive analyst sentiment. Article: Truist Raises Visa Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Visa announced six technology hubs in Singapore focused on areas including AI, cybersecurity and next-generation payments, and its Featurespace fraud tools were adopted across Verifone gateways. These initiatives could strengthen Visa’s technology offering and create growth opportunities. Article: Visa Establishes Global Capability Hubs in Singapore Article: Verifone Adds Visa-Powered Fraud Screening
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa launched a benchmark for AI shopping tools; nearly half of test runs failed. The project positions Visa in emerging commerce technology, though the results also highlight that AI shopping remains challenging. Article: Visa Releases AI Shopping Benchmark
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. stocks fell sharply in a broad market downturn, likely adding pressure to Visa shares. Separately, commentary flagged rising client incentives and a premium valuation as risks after the stock’s recent run-up. Article: Hard Day on Wall Street Article: Visa’s Solid Q4 Masks Rising Incentives
• Negative Sentiment: Visa’s CEO sold shares under a pre-arranged trading plan. The planned nature of the sale makes it a less definitive signal, but insider selling may add to near-term investor caution. Article: Visa Insider Trades

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $460.00 target price (up from $435.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $445.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $440.82.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,018,365.40. This trade represents a 9.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total transaction of $2,161,236.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,582,059.38. This represents a 27.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 27,395 shares of company stock worth $10,406,050 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V stock opened at $422.35 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $442.23. 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 company has a market capitalization of $753.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.80. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $384.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $344.21.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $12.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 70.50% and a net margin of 51.20%. Visa's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 15.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

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

Visa Profile

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.

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