Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Decreases Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,504 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,853 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 2.7% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Visa were worth $24,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of V. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,522,000 after buying an additional 6,883 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,733,000 after acquiring an additional 4,817 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its holdings in Visa by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Visa by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 54,205 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $19,245,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Visa by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,657 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TreviPay announced a partnership with Visa to offer a “Pay by Invoice” tool to Visa-issuing banks, aiming to help issuers capture more of the $58 trillion North American B2B payments market — a product push that could expand Visa’s transaction volume in commercial flows. TreviPay Teams With Visa to Offer Banks Pay by Invoice Tool
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts note crypto-linked cards (example: Lemon’s Bitcoin-backed card on Visa’s network) point to another growth lane — enabling spending while holding crypto could broaden Visa’s fee-bearing volume if adoption scales. Does Lemon’s Bitcoin Credit Card Hint at V’s Next Crypto Growth Lane?
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa executive commentary on trust at authorization highlights the company’s ongoing focus on security and authorization UX — important for retention but incremental to near-term revenue. Visa on How Trust Is Built at the Moment of Authorization
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparative pieces (V vs MA) and market commentary are highlighting positioning ahead of earnings, useful for investors but not immediate catalysts. V or MA: Which Is the Better Stock Ahead of Earnings?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several broader-market personal-finance pieces (including a MarketBeat dividend roundup) reference dividend and income ideas but are unrelated to Visa’s fundamentals; they can affect investor attention but not Visa’s core outlook. This Cheap Dividend Just Jumped 13.6% (and We’re Buying)
• Neutral Sentiment: A local consumer report about fraud on a Visa-branded gift card underscores payment-fraud headlines that occasionally create reputational noise but are not material to Visa’s network economics. Ann Arbor woman warns others after money on Visa gift card goes to Draft Kings in Boston
• Negative Sentiment: Political pressure resurfaced: President Trump has publicly backed measures to curb swipe/merchant fees and advance credit-card competition legislation, triggering investor concern that regulatory caps or legislative changes could compress Visa’s fee revenue. Trump Is Taking Aim at Credit Card Swipe Fees. Should You Ditch Visa Stock ASAP?
• Negative Sentiment: News outlets report Visa shares slipped after Trump’s backing of the Credit Card Competition Act — investors are re-pricing regulatory risk for networks and issuers. Visa Shares Slip As Trump Backs Credit Card Competition Act
• Negative Sentiment: Broader coverage (Reuters, Barchart) notes U.S. bank and card-related stocks fell as investors awaited clarity on a potential 10% cap on credit card interest rates and other rule-making tied to the administration’s deadline — a macro/regulatory risk that can weigh on Visa’s volume and issuer economics indirectly. US bank stocks fall as investors weigh credit card rate cap deadline
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple consumer media pieces revisited swipe-fee scrutiny, keeping regulatory headlines in the spotlight and sustaining short-term selling pressure on Visa and peers. Trump Is Taking Aim at Credit Card Swipe Fees. Should You Ditch Visa Stock ASAP?

Visa Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of V stock opened at $325.83 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $339.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $342.95. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $299.00 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The stock has a market cap of $593.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.60 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 60.31% and a net margin of 50.15%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.71 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. HSBC raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $335.00 to $389.00 in a report on Sunday, December 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $398.00 price objective on Visa and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $401.52.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total transaction of $3,661,152.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,282,641.18. This represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.48, for a total value of $302,832.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $830,432.64. This represents a 26.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 24,042 shares of company stock valued at $8,247,289 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.