Visa (NYSE:V) Shares Up 3% – What’s Next?

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) shot up 3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $383.43 and last traded at $382.35. Approximately 8,421,077 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 7% from the average daily volume of 7,906,784 shares. The stock had previously closed at $371.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Visa from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $412.00 target price (up from $395.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $432.00 target price (up from $412.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price target (up from $430.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $413.58.

Visa Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $353.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $329.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $682.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 22.79%.

Visa declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total transaction of $3,608,455.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,219,704.26. The trade was a 40.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% 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 sold 90,759 shares of company stock worth $32,375,779 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC raised its position in Visa by 200.0% in the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 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.