Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 311,733 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,589 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 1.6% of Eastern Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Visa were worth $106,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Planned Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Visa by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. now owns 1,598 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC now owns 1,598 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its stake in Visa by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 6,096 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in Visa by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 185 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spectrum Planning & Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Spectrum Planning & Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,896 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during 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 agreed to acquire BioCatch for approximately $2.4 billion in cash. BioCatch uses behavioral biometrics, including typing patterns, touchscreen behavior and device handling, to identify account takeovers, scams, money-mule activity and application fraud before transactions occur. The deal should strengthen Visa’s fraud, cybersecurity and risk-management offerings as AI-enabled scams become more sophisticated. Visa to buy cybersecurity firm BioCatch for $2.4 billion amid surge in AI-powered scams
• Positive Sentiment: Visa is expanding its payment ecosystem through GCash, which plans to introduce card-linking capabilities with Visa and Mastercard. The rollout could improve consumer payment convenience and support transaction growth in the Philippines. GCash to expand payment options with Visa and Mastercard card linking
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa continues to promote controls and data governance for “agentic” artificial-intelligence systems. The initiative supports long-term opportunities in AI-enabled commerce, although it does not represent a near-term financial catalyst. Visa Says the Agentic Enterprise Starts With Better Controls
• Neutral Sentiment: Predictions that AI-powered cryptocurrency payments will become mainstream could eventually create new transaction opportunities for Visa, but the outlook is speculative and Ethereum-based adoption is not an immediate earnings driver. Tom Lee Predicts AI-Powered Crypto Payments Will Go Mainstream in Under Five Years
• Negative Sentiment: Elon Musk’s X Money is adding debit cards and money-transfer features, increasing competition for Visa in digital payments. The potential impact remains uncertain because the service is initially limited to select users. Elon Musk introduces money transfer service to social media app X
• Negative Sentiment: The BioCatch transaction requires a substantial cash outlay, which may pressure near-term returns if the acquisition takes time to generate meaningful revenue or cost synergies. A reported sale of 57,272 Visa shares by an insider may also weigh modestly on sentiment. Tullier Kelly Mahon Sells 57,272 Shares of Visa Stock

Visa Trading Down 0.1%

V opened at $365.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $656.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.74. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $373.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $341.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $325.92.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 67.68% and a net margin of 50.78%.The company had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.12 EPS for the current year.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total transaction of $3,608,455.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,219,704.26. This trade represents a 40.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This trade represents a 9.92% 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. Insiders sold a total of 101,398 shares of company stock valued at $35,831,433 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on V. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $435.00 price objective (up from $430.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Visa from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $412.00 target price (up from $395.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $413.12.

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.