Visa (NYSE:V) Trading 1.9% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) traded up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Monday after Erste Group Bank upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The company traded as high as $363.66 and last traded at $362.3710. 6,626,938 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 7,950,921 shares. The stock had previously closed at $355.74.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $389.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Clear Str upgraded Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $412.00 target price on Visa and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nineteen have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $399.41.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

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

Visa Stock Up 1.9%

The firm has a market cap of $650.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $337.58 and a 200 day moving average of $325.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The company’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.