Visa (NYSE:V) Trading 1.1% Higher – What’s Next?

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s share price traded up 1.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $307.85 and last traded at $304.8260. 7,652,992 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 8,176,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $301.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. HSBC upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $411.00 price target (up from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $392.65.

Visa Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $320.50 and a 200 day moving average of $334.25. The company has a market cap of $553.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.03. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The business had revenue of $10.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 25.14%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total value of $3,661,152.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at $3,282,641.18. This trade represents a 52.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Visa

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 446.2% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in shares of Visa by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Visa by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.