Entropy Technologies LP Acquires New Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 38,160 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $13,027,000. Visa comprises approximately 1.0% of Entropy Technologies LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 162,544,006 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $57,711,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,575 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 2.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,096,802 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,253,245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,631 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $8,463,484,000 after purchasing an additional 193,288 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,034,939,000. Finally, TCI Fund Management Ltd. increased its stake in Visa by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 19,067,558 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,769,936,000 after buying an additional 2,429,996 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total value of $3,661,152.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at $3,282,641.18. This represents a 52.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE V opened at $306.36 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $299.00 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $326.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $336.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $556.10 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.78.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.69 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The company’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Macquarie Infrastructure reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $385.00 target price on Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $392.65.

Visa News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa expands its stablecoin card program (partnership with Bridge/Stripe) and widened global coverage, aiming to route stablecoin-backed payments through Visa rails — a potential long-term growth avenue as crypto payments evolve. Visa’s Stablecoin Play Intensifies
• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Trip.com launched a global virtual travel card program to streamline international travel payments (APAC focus), and Citcon expanded Visa Direct cross-border push payments — both expand addressable volumes as travel recovers. Global virtual travel card program launched
• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Santander completed pilot agentic-commerce transactions across five Latin American markets using Visa Intelligent Commerce (VIC), a credential for future merchant/payment volume growth in a high-growth region. Santander and Visa Launch LatAm Agentic Payments Project
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage — including comparative pieces on Visa vs. Mastercard and a Wolfe Research FinTech Forum transcript — provide investors with valuation and competitive context but contain no new company-guidance surprises. Visa Vs. Mastercard: Which Payment Giant Is The Better Buy Today? Visa Presents at Wolfe Research FinTech Forum
• Negative Sentiment: An insider (Director Lloyd Carney) sold 650 shares (~19.5% reduction in his stake). While the sale size is modest relative to Visa’s market cap, insider selling can weigh on near-term sentiment. SEC Form 4 — Insider Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Market/technical pressure and bearish sentiment: recent coverage notes Visa underperformed the market in the latest session and growing short-seller attention, both of which can amplify downward moves in the absence of fresh positive catalysts. Visa Registers a Bigger Fall Than the Market Why Short Sellers Are Targeting Visa

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.