Jennison Associates LLC Acquires 133,919 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,502,839 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 133,919 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 1.5% of Jennison Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.41% of Visa worth $2,561,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Bare Financial Services Inc grew its stake in Visa by 287.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 89 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 202.7% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup upgraded Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $398.00 price objective on Visa and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $380.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.52.

Visa News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain upbeat ahead of earnings — JPMorgan and others expect resilient consumer spending and solid growth at Visa and Mastercard into the Jan. 29 earnings window, which supports upside if volume and revenue trends hold. Visa, Mastercard Head Into Earnings With Spending Holding Firm
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership expansion into crypto-to-fiat rails via Mercuryo could open new volume and fees through Visa Direct and faster fiat conversions, a potential long-term revenue tailwind if adoption scales. Visa Brings Crypto-To-Fiat Convenience To Millions Via Mercuryo
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street broadly expects earnings growth for the quarter, which tempers downside risk — but forecasts leave little margin for a surprise beat, so guidance will drive near-term moves. Visa (V) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry commentary at Davos frames stablecoins (USDC) as complementary infrastructure rather than direct competition to card networks — this reduces regulatory/competitive threat but leaves blockchain adoption as a parallel opportunity. Circle CEO says USDC is a neutral layer, not a rival to Visa or Mastercard
• Negative Sentiment: Caution from some analysts: rising incentives and operating costs plus Visa’s rich valuation are cited as reasons to wait before buying ahead of the report — any weak guidance on margins or incentives could pressure the stock. Thinking of Buying Visa Before Q1 Earnings? You Might Want to Wait

Visa Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:V opened at $326.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $593.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.93, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.81. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $299.00 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $338.50 and a 200 day moving average of $342.50.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.60 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 60.31% and a net margin of 50.15%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.48, for a total value of $302,832.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,468 shares in the company, valued at $830,432.64. This represents a 26.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total transaction of $707,919.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,608,789.09. This represents a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 24,042 shares of company stock worth $8,247,289 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.