Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Has $257.62 Million Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 734,569 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 72,375 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 4.6% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Visa were worth $257,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 446.2% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in Visa by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Visa by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

More Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa announced a strategic partnership with Trip.com Group to expand digital-first travel payments and personalized booking experiences across Asia-Pacific, which could support future transaction volume and deepen Visa’s role in travel spending. Visa and Trip.com Group Ink Strategic Collaboration, Enabling Consumers to Chase Their Passions Through Travel
• Positive Sentiment: Visa launched an “Agentic Ready” program in the UAE and highlighted its push into AI-driven commerce, signaling the company is positioning itself for next-generation payments as consumers increasingly use AI shopping tools. Visa launches ‘Agentic Ready’ programme in UAE
• Positive Sentiment: Visa’s Spring 2026 Threats Report showed the company is strengthening network security, even as criminals shift toward AI-enabled social engineering; that can help Visa’s reputation for safe, reliable payments and support adoption of its network. Visa Threats Report: As Network Security Strengthens, Criminals Accelerate Shift to AI-Enabled Social Engineering
• Positive Sentiment: Visa also unveiled community and brand initiatives tied to the FIFA World Cup 2026, including a Toronto soccer park and small-business support, which expands visibility ahead of a major global event. Visa Canada Brings Visa Street Soccer Park to Toronto
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analyst-style articles continued to frame Visa as a strong long-term fintech franchise with solid balance sheet metrics and growth drivers in AI commerce and value-added services, but these were largely commentary rather than fresh catalysts.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent market chatter about Berkshire Hathaway fully exiting Visa in Q1 2026 may weigh on sentiment, although the stake sale is old news and does not change Visa’s operating outlook.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on V. Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Visa from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Truist Financial set a $371.00 price objective on Visa and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.67.

Visa Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $331.18 on Thursday. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $312.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $325.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $594.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.78.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010 in the last 90 days. 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.