Visa (NYSE:V) Stock Price Up 1.9% – Should You Buy?

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) traded up 1.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $339.72 and last traded at $336.9580. 16,628,982 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 109% from the average daily volume of 7,973,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.52.

Key Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa launched Visa Destinations, a global travel platform now live in 10 major markets, designed to engage cardholders earlier in the travel journey and deepen use of Visa’s network through curated experiences and exclusive access. Visa Redefines Its Role in Travel With the Global Launch of Visa Destinations
• Positive Sentiment: Visa expanded Visa Cloud Connect with Mintoak and Thredd in Asia Pacific, which could help fintechs and banks issue cards faster and broaden Visa’s reach in merchant SaaS and cloud-based issuing. Visa (V), Mintoak Partner to Expand Merchant SaaS Offerings Across Asia Pacific
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are highlighting Visa’s new travel push and international expansion efforts as potential future growth drivers, reinforcing the view that Visa can keep monetizing cross-border spending and travel-related activity. Can Visa’s New Travel Play Become Its Next Growth Driver?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent write-ups on Visa’s travel and partner initiatives are largely descriptive, but they underscore investor focus on whether these new products can meaningfully add to growth over time. Visa Explores Travel Planning Space With Visa Destinations
• Neutral Sentiment: One opinion piece argued Visa could be vulnerable to payment disruption, but it did not include new fundamental data and appears to be more of a long-term risk discussion than a near-term catalyst. Visa: May Be Next On The Disruption Hit List

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

V has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $387.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Visa from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $387.78.

Visa Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $604.43 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $323.36 and its 200 day moving average is $324.30.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,522,000 after buying an additional 6,883 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,733,000 after acquiring an additional 4,817 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Visa by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 1,133 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Visa by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 18,367 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,521,000 after purchasing an additional 2,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% 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.