Visa (NYSE:V) Shares Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) shares shot up 1.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $365.45 and last traded at $364.8440. 8,131,908 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 7,886,254 shares. The stock had previously closed at $359.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on V shares. Weiss Ratings raised Visa from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $412.00 price objective (up from $395.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $413.58.

Visa Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $649.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $349.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $328.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 67.68% and a net margin of 50.78%.The business’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 22.79%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 57,272 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total transaction of $20,902,561.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 49,662 shares in the company, valued at $18,125,140.14. The trade was a 53.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total value of $3,608,455.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,219,704.26. The trade was 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. Insiders have sold 90,759 shares of company stock worth $32,375,779 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PayPay Securities Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 200.0% during the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.