Visa (NYSE:V) Trading Up 1.7% – Here’s Why

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) shares shot up 1.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $345.81 and last traded at $341.8610. Approximately 8,002,009 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 7,959,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $336.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price target on the stock. Evercore set a $350.00 price target on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $387.78.

Visa Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $323.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $324.29. 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 firm has a market cap of $613.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.77.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in V. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Visa by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Company Profile

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.