Carmignac Gestion Sells 8,224 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Carmignac Gestion reduced its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 77.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,328 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 8,224 shares during the quarter. Carmignac Gestion’s holdings in Visa were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Militia Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the first quarter valued at about $2,440,000. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visa by 5.2% in the first quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 15,285 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $4,620,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its stake in Visa by 1.0% during the first quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 35,544 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $10,743,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Positano Wealth Management Ltd grew its stake in Visa by 25.3% during the first quarter. Positano Wealth Management Ltd now owns 48,901 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $14,780,000 after acquiring an additional 9,883 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on V. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $432.00 price target (up from $412.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday. Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $412.00 price objective (up from $395.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $411.77.

Visa News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings continue to support the stock. Visa reported fiscal third-quarter EPS of $3.32, above the $3.23 consensus, while revenue reached $11.63 billion, up 14.4% year over year and ahead of expectations. The results reinforce confidence in payment-volume growth and Visa’s high-margin business model. Visa Trading Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “Overweight” rating, while BMO Capital Markets, JPMorgan and Robert W. Baird forecast additional price appreciation. One fair-value estimate rose from $398.83 to $411.63, reflecting optimism about payment volumes, value-added services and potential stablecoin-related products. Visa Stock Sees Modest Fair Value Lift
• Positive Sentiment: Restructuring could improve efficiency. Visa plans to eliminate roughly 2,600 jobs, or about 7% of its workforce, as artificial intelligence and other technology reshape operations. Although the cuts may create near-term charges, investors could view lower long-term costs and greater productivity favorably. Visa Layoffs Will Cut 7 Percent of Its Workforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive developments bear watching. X Money launched with a Visa debit card, peer-to-peer transfers and 3% cashback, potentially generating transaction activity for Visa while also intensifying competition in digital payments and consumer wallets. Elon Musk Aims at Venmo With One Bold Perk
• Negative Sentiment: Job cuts may raise execution and sentiment concerns. The scale of the layoffs highlights Visa’s efforts to adapt to AI-driven changes and could unsettle employees or investors if restructuring disrupts growth initiatives. Visa Slashes Thousands of Jobs in Efficiency Push

Visa Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of V opened at $366.33 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $341.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $325.66. The company has a market capitalization of $657.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $373.97.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 22.79%.

Visa announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa 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 owned 49,662 shares in the company, valued at $18,125,140.14. This trade represents a 53.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 101,398 shares of company stock valued at $35,831,433 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.