Visa (NYSE:V) Upgraded at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Visa (NYSE:V) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Visa from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $412.00 price objective on Visa and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $387.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-three have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $411.00.

Visa Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:V opened at $369.69 on Monday. Visa has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $373.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $339.67 and its 200-day moving average is $325.38. The firm has a market cap of $663.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.75.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 66.68%. Visa’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Visa will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total transaction of $3,608,455.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,219,704.26. This trade represents a 40.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,126 shares of company stock valued at $14,928,871. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 867.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,213,610 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,880,595,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,762 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visa by 29,706.3% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,332,947 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,216,310,000 after buying an additional 7,308,345 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of Visa by 12,497.1% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 3,378,039 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,184,712,000 after buying an additional 3,351,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visa by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,508,089 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,282,472,000 after buying an additional 2,116,463 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Results exceeded expectations: Visa reported adjusted earnings of $3.32 per share versus the $3.23 consensus and revenue of $11.63 billion, up 14.4% year over year. Payments volume surpassed $4 trillion, while cross-border activity, processed transactions and resilient consumer spending supported double-digit growth. Visa Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Cross-Border Volume Strength
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised price targets: JPMorgan increased its target to $450, Baird to $420, BMO to $405 and Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an overweight rating with a $410 target. The revisions reflect confidence in Visa’s fundamentals and continued payment growth. Visa Analyst Forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Growth initiatives remain active: Management highlighted AI-enabled commerce, stablecoin settlement, Visa Direct, commercial payments and value-added services as longer-term growth opportunities. The launch of X Money with a Visa-branded debit card could provide additional network activity. Visa Outlines Stablecoin Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder return: Visa declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, payable September 1 to shareholders of record August 11. Visa Dividend Announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Workforce restructuring: Visa plans to eliminate approximately 2,600 jobs, or 7% of its workforce, mainly in technology and product operations. The cuts may reduce costs and fund AI, stablecoin and B2B investments, but also signal a significant organizational transition. Visa Slashes Thousands of Jobs
• Negative Sentiment: Margin and valuation concerns: Shares faced pressure after the earnings release as investors focused on higher operating expenses and potential margin compression. Some analysts also view Visa’s premium valuation—roughly 26 times forward earnings—as limiting near-term upside. Visa Stock and Margin Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Market backdrop: A sharp oil-price increase tied to escalating U.S.-Iran tensions and uncertainty ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision pressured major equity indexes, creating a broader headwind for Visa’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.