Visa (NYSE:V) Trading 1.3% Higher – Here’s Why

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) shares rose 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $349.50 and last traded at $348.74. Approximately 942,424 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 6,672,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $344.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $353.96.

Visa Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a market cap of $650.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $342.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $314.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. Sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total transaction of $12,875,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,642,333.60. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.00, for a total value of $3,129,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $194,931. The trade was a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,560,961 in the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Visa

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in Visa by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services.