Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,446,356 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 3,006,717 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Visa were worth $1,859,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sonoma Allocations LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the 3rd quarter worth about $710,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,241,348 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $438,196,000 after acquiring an additional 21,401 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 7.5% in the second quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,588 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 5.9% during the second quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 95,150 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $33,783,000 after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Visa during the second quarter valued at approximately $862,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Crypto card spending is surging: TipRanks reports crypto-card transactions have reached $18 billion, with Visa positioned as a market leader in digital payments — this supports revenue upside from card volume and new product adoption. V, BTC, USDC: Crypto Card Spending Hits $18 Billion
• Positive Sentiment: Visa expands stablecoin capabilities: BVNK will power stablecoin pre?funding and payouts on Visa Direct, enabling faster settlement for crypto-linked programs and broadening Visa’s settlement rails. This is a product expansion that can increase fee-bearing volume. BVNK to Power Stablecoin Payments for Visa Direct
• Positive Sentiment: Growing stablecoin settlement volumes: Visa says stablecoin-linked payment cards are driving demand and its stablecoin settlement run-rate has climbed to roughly $4.5 billion annualized — a small but fast-growing new revenue stream. Visa Says Stablecoin-Linked Payments Cards Drive Demand for Settlement Platform
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains constructive: Brokerages have issued a consensus “Buy” on Visa, supporting investor confidence and likely limiting downside from short-term news. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: Opinion pieces highlight long-term thesis: The Motley Fool and MarketBeat/Market commentary revisit Visa as a long-term compounder (and note last year’s underperformance), keeping it on buy-and-hold radars but offering limited near-term catalyst news. Could Buying Visa Stock Today Set You Up for Life?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk in the U.K.: The High Court ruled the U.K. Payment Systems Regulator can cap cross?border interchange fees, a decision that could compress Visa’s fee revenue on certain transactions in a material market if caps are implemented. This is the main near-term headwind. Mastercard, Visa and Revolut lose UK case over proposed cross-border card fees cap

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on V shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Macquarie reduced their price objective on Visa from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total transaction of $3,661,152.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. The trade was a 52.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.48, for a total transaction of $302,832.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $830,432.64. This represents a 26.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 24,042 shares of company stock worth $8,247,289 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE V opened at $328.41 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $598.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $339.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $343.39.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.72 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

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

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.