Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 12.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 454,297 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 64,036 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Visa were worth $155,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in V. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

More Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stablecoin and AI-payment partnership: Visa is working with Dunamu, the operator of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, to develop stablecoin payments, cross-border remittances, settlement services and AI-powered commerce. The agreement could help Visa build institutional-grade digital-asset payment infrastructure across Asia while connecting cryptocurrency technology with its global network. Upbit operator Dunamu teams up with Visa on stablecoin and AI payments
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded cybersecurity product: Visa upgraded its AI-powered Vulnerability Agentic Harness to identify, remediate and validate cyber vulnerabilities for clients. The broader toolset may strengthen Visa’s value proposition to merchants and financial institutions and support growth in security-related services. Visa Rolls Out AI-Powered Cyber Vulnerability Patching for Clients
• Positive Sentiment: Merchant acceptance expansion: Visa’s partnership with Bluefin combines payment security, transaction routing and device management in a unified card-present platform. The offering could simplify deployment for large merchants, deepen customer relationships and expand Visa’s acceptance solutions. Visa Launches Unified Card Present Payment Platform for Global Merchants
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional endorsement: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square added Visa and Mastercard during a major portfolio overhaul, providing a favorable signal from a prominent long-term investor. Bill Ackman Just Made His Biggest Portfolio Overhaul in Years
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa restored payment-network access in Syria through a live transaction, but Mastercard reportedly reached the market at nearly the same time, limiting any first-mover advantage. Visa Reopens Syria With One Payment and No Monopoly
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation risk: Visa recently reached a record high before giving up the breakout. With shares trading at roughly 32 times earnings, investors may demand continued strong growth, making the stock vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointing execution. Visa Hits Record, Then Surrenders the Breakout

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on V. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial set a $406.00 price target on shares of Visa and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $412.00 price target (up from $395.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $406.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $414.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 57,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total transaction of $20,902,561.84. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 49,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,125,140.14. This trade represents a 53.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the business’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 value of $2,161,236.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,582,059.38. This trade represents a 27.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,634 shares of company stock worth $34,537,016. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $381.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $681.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $359.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $331.43. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $385.57.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. The firm had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.79%.

About Visa

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.