15 Dow Stocks Listed and Ranked By 2022 Hedge Fund Bullishness Index

2. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 159

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a global leader in digital payments technology. Baird analyst David Koning thinks the stock will remain resilient in a recession-scenario given growing purchase volume, and retained his bullish stance as cross-border transactions and inflation provide ongoing growth drivers. He gave Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) an ‘Outperform’ rating and named it as a “bullish Fresh Pick,” with a $290 price target.

Investor sentiment around Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) stock significantly improved in the first quarter of 2022, as 159 hedge funds were bullish on the company in contrast to 142 funds in the previous quarter. TCI Fund Management, with a massive $4.41 billion stake, was the top investor in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) during the first quarter. Fisher Asset Management and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway also owned multi-billion dollar stakes in the digital payments company.

Here is what investment firm Polen Capital had to say about the prospects and market position of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“We added to both Visa and Mastercard during the final quarters of 2021, based on the belief that both businesses were trading at attractive prices and poised to deliver, double-digit returns over the next three to five years. Cross-border transactions–a highly profitable business segment for both companies–represent roughly 10% of Visa and Mastercard’s volumes and 25% of their gross revenues, so lockdowns have severely impacted this segment due to stifled travel. While it was impossible to know when people would begin traveling again, we accepted this reality with the belief that travel would eventually return. Both companies have commented that as soon as a country or geography reopens, cross-border volumes reignite, amplifying each business’s growth and profitability. We think these near- term headwinds have created an attractive long-term investment opportunity.”