Morgan Stanley’s Best Stock Picks: 15 Stocks To Own For 2025

11. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q2 2024: 163

Share Price Target Upside: 12%

Share Price Target: $322

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is one the world’s largest payment processors, which lends it a considerable market share and a sizeable moat. It accounts for 61% of the US market by purchase volume, implying that as opposed to growth, customer retention and cost and control are central tenets of the firm’s hypothesis. The former bit is particularly important owing to the rise of digital wallets and the propensity of businesses to avoid dealing with firms like Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) due to high transaction fees. On this front, the firm made history in 2024, when it and smaller rival Mastercard agreed to a whopping $30 billion settlement to help resolve these problems. However, the deal is currently on hold as of June, and if it fails to clear the courts, then Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) could see headwinds to the stock price. The firm, along with Mastercard, also offers 30 day fraud liability protection to consumers, which could become another thorny point with retailers. However, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is also improving its service and targeting growth by announcing features such as A2A that allow easy recurring bill payments and expansion into the developing world to target untapped populations.

Aoris Management mentioned Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q2 2024 investor letter. Here is what the firm said:

“Visa operates the world’s largest payments network, which facilitates the movement of money between merchants, financial institutions, consumers, businesses, and governments.

The company is best known for enabling consumers to make debit and credit card payments. In the year to September 2023, 4.3 billion Visa cardholders made 213 billion transactions on its network, to a total value of US$12.1 trillion.

Compared to cash and cheques, which are still widely used around the world, Visa’s network is a more convenient, secure, and ubiquitous way for consumers to pay. Visa has invested to reduce friction and fraud in the payments experience, to the benefit of both merchants and consumers.”