VELA Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

VELA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1,673.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,239 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $1,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Patron Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 0.6% in the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 0.9% in the third quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. High Note Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 6.8% in the third quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 474 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 2.0% in the third quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 0.9% in the third quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC now owns 3,211 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of V stock opened at $328.43 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $293.89 and a 1 year high of $375.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $310.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $327.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $596.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.78.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on V shares. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $387.25.

Key Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong momentum and analyst support — Coverage pieces are calling Visa a momentum name after solid fundamentals and style‑score metrics that favor growth stocks; UBS and other houses have lifted targets, adding buy‑side pressure. Why Visa is a Top Momentum Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Stablecoin settlement expansion — Visa has broadened its stablecoin pilot to nine blockchains and says settlement volume is at roughly a $7B annualized run‑rate, which increases optionality for non‑bank settlement rails and could accelerate new payment flows. This supports growth and diversification of revenue sources. Visa Expands Stablecoin Pilot
• Positive Sentiment: Agentic/AI payments roll‑out — Visa is scaling its “Agentic Ready” program across APAC/LatAm to capture volume from AI agent‑initiated commerce; if Visa secures the rails for agent payments, it protects future fee pools. Visa Launches Agentic Ready
• Positive Sentiment: Crypto‑card volume accelerating — On‑chain crypto card spending has surged (reports cite a ~500% rise to ~$600M/month) with Visa capturing the lion’s share of that flow, highlighting near‑term volume upside. Crypto Card Spending Surges
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend and buyback mix — Visa declared a $0.67 quarterly dividend and authorized a $20B repurchase (about 3.6% of shares). Both return capital and signal management confidence, but buybacks can be perceived differently depending on valuation and timing. Insider Filing / Company Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer results and sector noise — Mastercard also reported strong results but its stock moved differently, showing the sector can react idiosyncratically to similar beats; investors are weighing valuation vs. durable growth. Mastercard Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale by the CEO — CEO Ryan McInerney sold 31,455 shares (executed under a 10b5‑1 plan), cutting his holdings substantially; even planned sales can spook investors and add short‑term selling pressure. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and structural risks — European moves (digital euro debate) and the rise of alternative rails/agentic commerce raise the prospect that some flows could bypass traditional card economics over time, creating execution and margin risks that keep some investors cautious. Europe Digital Euro Debate

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of Visa 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 transaction, the director owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Visa Company 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.