Country Trust Bank Grows Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Country Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 270,505 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 29,129 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 1.7% of Country Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Visa were worth $94,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Visa by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $8,463,484,000 after buying an additional 193,288 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,114,674 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,475,403,000 after purchasing an additional 530,995 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Visa by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,458,913 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,253,224,000 after purchasing an additional 399,845 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Visa by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,913,505 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,067,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Visa by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,418,387 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,873,794,000 after purchasing an additional 108,264 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa rolled out Intelligent Commerce Connect — an AI “on‑ramp” for agentic commerce — positioning the network to capture new AI-driven payment flows and partner integrations. Visa Aims to Give Businesses Agentic Commerce on-Ramp
• Positive Sentiment: Visa launched multiple AI tools to speed and automate dispute resolution and bolster fraud prevention — expected to lower dispute costs and improve merchant/customer experience. Visa Launches New AI Tools to Manage Credit Card Disputes
• Positive Sentiment: Management is highlighting stronger risk/identity capabilities and anti‑fraud initiatives, which support margins and trust in the network as payments become more automated. Visa Wants Fraudsters to Pick Another Business
• Positive Sentiment: Brand & consumer engagement move — Visa is the worldwide tour sponsor for BTS, a high‑visibility tie‑up that can drive merchant/consumer activation in key markets. Visa’s BTS Tour Deal Links K Pop Reach With Undervalued Shares
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 context: Visa’s recent quarter beat revenue and EPS estimates modestly and showed double‑digit revenue growth — supportive for fundamentals but already priced into the stock to some degree. Unpacking Q4 Earnings: Visa In The Context Of Other Credit Card Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Regional leadership change: Visa’s India & South Asia head Sandeep Ghosh is stepping down; a successor is said to be identified — operationally manageable but worth watching given India’s growth importance. Visa’s India, South Asia head Sandeep Ghosh to quit
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry moves at Mastercard and other peers (AI initiatives, target revisions) create competitive context but not an immediate firm‑specific hit to Visa’s business. Mastercard’s ASEAN AI Push: Can Trust Unlock Agentic Commerce?
• Negative Sentiment: Crypto/stablecoin volumes now rival or exceed card networks in certain corridors, highlighting long‑term disintermediation risk to transaction volumes and fees. Stablecoins Move More Money Than Visa And Mastercard
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and risk debate: some analysts note the forward P/E pullback improves the yield of future returns but warn fintech competition and regulatory scrutiny could pressure growth if not managed. Visa Slides to 22X P/E: Opportunity Knocking or False Signal?

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Freedom Capital raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $411.00 target price (up from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $380.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $390.96.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE V opened at $308.80 on Thursday. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $375.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $313.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $330.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $560.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.69 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.75 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 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.