Visa (NYSE:V) Trading Up 1% on Analyst Upgrade

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) shares shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Friday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $371.00 to $394.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Visa traded as high as $355.84 and last traded at $355.2890. Approximately 4,479,982 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 7,969,976 shares. The stock had previously closed at $351.60.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on V. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $387.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Clear Str raised Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $399.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised Visa’s price target to $394 from $371 and kept a buy rating, signaling further upside potential. Visa price target raised by Truist Financial Corporation
• Positive Sentiment: Several previews of Visa’s upcoming Q3 results expect another earnings and revenue beat, supported by strong payment trends and digital payments growth. Visa’s Q3 Earnings Could be a Catalyst: Should You Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Visa announced new partnership activity with Airwallex and Lianlian around embedded finance, freight, and agentic B2B commerce, reinforcing its growth opportunities in modern payment rails. Visa and Lianlian Advance Trusted B2B Agentic Commerce
• Positive Sentiment: Visa is also being highlighted by analysts and commentators as a wide-moat business with resilient consumer credit demand, which supports the stock’s premium valuation. Jim Cramer Highlights Visa (V) as Consumer Credit Demand Soars
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa was upgraded by BNP Paribas Exane, adding to the bullish analyst backdrop, though the report did not provide much detail on what specifically changed. Visa (NYSE:V) Upgraded at BNP Paribas Exane
• Neutral Sentiment: Some market coverage notes that Visa and Mastercard have held steady even as American Express sold off after earnings, reinforcing relative strength in the network model. American Express Sinks 6% After Q2 Earnings Beat as Visa, Mastercard Hold Steady

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of V. Ballast Inc. boosted its position in Visa by 35.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 6,234 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,336 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Visa by 19.9% in the second quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd now owns 257,309 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $88,280,000 after purchasing an additional 42,660 shares in the last quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 9.5% in the second quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC now owns 53,200 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $18,253,000 after purchasing an additional 4,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 301.8% during the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 1,595 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $336.98 and its 200 day moving average is $325.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $637.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.95, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.