Visa (NYSE:V) Trading 1.1% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) rose 1.1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $307.85 and last traded at $304.8260. Approximately 7,652,992 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 8,176,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $301.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

V has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Freedom Capital raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $411.00 target price (up from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure restated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.65.

Visa Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $320.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $334.25. The company has a market cap of $553.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.78.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.03. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The business had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.75 earnings per share. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Visa’s payout ratio is 25.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total transaction of $3,661,152.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Visa

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clayton Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Visa by 446.2% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.