Visa (NYSE:V) Trading 1.6% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) rose 1.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $321.38 and last traded at $319.14. Approximately 8,570,795 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 0% from the average daily volume of 8,549,110 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

V has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $408.00 price target (up from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $425.00 target price on Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $392.21.

Visa Stock Up 1.6%

The firm has a market cap of $579.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $337.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $339.51.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.14%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total transaction of $707,919.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $8,608,789.09. This trade represents a 7.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total transaction of $3,661,152.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,282,641.18. This represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Gillson Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Visa by 105.1% during the 4th quarter. Gillson Capital LP now owns 282,437 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $99,053,000 after purchasing an additional 144,737 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in Visa by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 25,669 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $9,002,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth $827,000. Finally, GAM Holding AG lifted its position in shares of Visa by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 90,067 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $31,587,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.