Visa (NYSE:V) Shares Up 2.3% – Here’s Why

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s stock price shot up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $333.43 and last traded at $333.1360. 5,264,371 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 7,692,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $325.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on V. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Daiwa Securities Group raised Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Loop Capital began coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $387.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price target for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.67.

Visa Stock Up 2.3%

The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $311.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $325.74. The firm has a market cap of $597.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Visa

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.6% in the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 0.9% during the third quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. High Note Wealth LLC increased its position in Visa by 6.8% during the third quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 474 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Visa by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Visa by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC now owns 3,211 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.