Hartford Investment Management Co. Trims Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,529 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 3,708 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises approximately 1.0% of Hartford Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $33,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Sonoma Allocations LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the third quarter worth about $710,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 lifted its position in Visa by 7.5% during the 2nd 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. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 5.9% in the 2nd 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 purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $862,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the subject of several recent research reports. Redburn Partners set a $385.00 price target on Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Visa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $382.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Visa to an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $392.00.

Visa News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly results and momentum — Visa recently reported a solid quarter (late Jan) with revenue and EPS above expectations and double-digit revenue growth, supporting investor confidence in durable fundamentals and margin leverage. Why Visa Stock Is Up Today
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst reiterations — Major firms reiterated Outperform ratings (Royal Bank of Canada, Macquarie), which can boost demand for the shares and validate the growth thesis. Visa’s (V) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada Visa’s (V) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Macquarie
• Positive Sentiment: Stablecoin settlement in GCC — Visa and payments partner NymCard went live with USDC-based settlement in the Gulf Cooperation Council, enabling faster 24/7 settlement and expanding Visa’s capability in crypto rails and cross-border flows in an important region. This could lower settlement friction and create new issuer/merchant use cases. NymCard and Visa Launch Stablecoin Settlement in GCC Region
• Positive Sentiment: New co-branded product rollout — U.S. Bank launched a small-business-focused Business Shield Visa card (0% intro APR options), which should drive incremental transaction volume and deepen commercial relationships across the small-business segment. U.S. Bank Business Shield™ Visa® Card Offers Intro 0% APR U.S. Bank Debuts Small Business-Focused Visa Card
• Neutral Sentiment: AI and payments narrative — Coverage highlights Visa’s digital credentials and identity work as increasingly valuable in an AI-driven ecosystem; positive for long-term positioning but benefits may be gradual. Google Trains AI Agents for Hard Questions and Real Work
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/opinion pieces — Several Fool pieces and other commentary reiterate Visa’s leadership and make bullish longer-term cases, useful for sentiment but not new fundamental data. 1 Prediction for Visa in 2026 Visa vs. Mastercard: Which Will Make You Richer?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/fee-cap risk persists — Some coverage notes past sell-offs tied to concerns over potential caps on card fees and consumer-spend sensitivity; regulatory risk remains a downside tail that could pressure multiple and volume over time. 2 Financial Stocks Poised for a Comeback in 2026

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was 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 approximately $8,608,789.09. The trade was a 7.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $334.16 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $338.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $341.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $608.75 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.79. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $299.00 and a 52-week high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.03. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The company had revenue of $10.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. Visa’s payout ratio is 25.14%.

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.