Visa (NYSE:V) Price Target Raised to $490.00

Visa (NYSE:V) had its price objective raised by Citigroup from $440.00 to $490.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the credit-card processor’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Susquehanna set a $480.00 price target on shares of Visa and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $375.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Visa from $396.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $443.35.

Visa Stock Down 1.2%

V opened at $420.26 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $389.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.62. Visa has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $442.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $749.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.04. Visa had a return on equity of 70.50% and a net margin of 51.20%. The firm had revenue of $12.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Visa will post 15.02 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.30%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.35, for a total value of $773,377.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,018,365.40. This represents a 9.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, insider Paul Fabara sold 3,401 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.09, for a total value of $1,438,929.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,348,251.17. This trade represents a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 32,663 shares of company stock worth $12,634,720. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. John Boyer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Portfolio Resources Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Top Visa Stories

These are some of the V stories that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Anchorage Digital are enabling eligible partners to settle VisaNet obligations using Western Union’s USDPT stablecoin. Visa also added the Monad blockchain to its stablecoin settlement program, expanding settlement options as it develops digital-asset services. Visa expands stablecoin services with Anchorage
• Positive Sentiment: Visa is extending everyday payment use cases: AviaGames players can receive eligible game payouts directly to Visa cards, while an Octopus partnership expands Visa QR-payment acceptance at merchants across Hong Kong. These integrations could support transaction activity and Visa’s reach. AviaGames payout collaboration Visa and Octopus expand QR payments
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains supportive: Bernstein maintained an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $486, while Citigroup reportedly raised its target to $490 and kept a Buy rating. Bernstein analyst recommendations

About Visa

Visa Inc. operates a global payments network that connects consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. Its network supports the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payments, including transactions made in person and online. The company’s services include payment processing, fraud prevention, identity and risk management, and money-transfer solutions such as Visa Direct. Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards are issued by participating financial institutions; Visa generally provides the network and related services rather than issuing cards or extending credit directly to consumers.