Lavelle Capital LP Purchases New Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Lavelle Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,844 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $557,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 867.6% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,213,610 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,880,595,000 after buying an additional 7,364,762 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Visa by 29,706.3% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,332,947 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,216,310,000 after acquiring an additional 7,308,345 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in Visa by 12,497.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 3,378,039 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,184,712,000 after acquiring an additional 3,351,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,508,089 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,282,472,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Visa

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $416.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $427.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $412.00 price target (up from $395.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $411.77.

Visa Stock Performance

V stock opened at $366.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $341.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $325.78. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $373.97. The firm has a market cap of $657.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.25, for a total value of $7,135,042.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,162,953.50. This trade represents a 58.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 101,398 shares of company stock worth $35,831,433. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.