Visa (NYSE:V) Shares Up 1.9% – Here’s Why

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s share price rose 1.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $339.72 and last traded at $336.9580. Approximately 16,628,982 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 109% from the average session volume of 7,973,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.52.

More Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa launched Visa Destinations, a global travel platform now live in 10 major markets, designed to engage cardholders earlier in the travel journey and deepen use of Visa’s network through curated experiences and exclusive access. Visa Redefines Its Role in Travel With the Global Launch of Visa Destinations
• Positive Sentiment: Visa expanded Visa Cloud Connect with Mintoak and Thredd in Asia Pacific, which could help fintechs and banks issue cards faster and broaden Visa’s reach in merchant SaaS and cloud-based issuing. Visa (V), Mintoak Partner to Expand Merchant SaaS Offerings Across Asia Pacific
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are highlighting Visa’s new travel push and international expansion efforts as potential future growth drivers, reinforcing the view that Visa can keep monetizing cross-border spending and travel-related activity. Can Visa’s New Travel Play Become Its Next Growth Driver?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent write-ups on Visa’s travel and partner initiatives are largely descriptive, but they underscore investor focus on whether these new products can meaningfully add to growth over time. Visa Explores Travel Planning Space With Visa Destinations
• Neutral Sentiment: One opinion piece argued Visa could be vulnerable to payment disruption, but it did not include new fundamental data and appears to be more of a long-term risk discussion than a near-term catalyst. Visa: May Be Next On The Disruption Hit List

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the subject of a number of research reports. Loop Capital started coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $387.78.

Visa Trading Up 1.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $322.94 and a 200-day moving average of $324.21. The firm has a market cap of $604.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board 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 that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in Visa by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 200.0% in 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 acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is 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.