Visa (NYSE:V) Trading 0.5% Higher – Here’s Why

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) shot up 0.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $279.44 and last traded at $279.30. 625,889 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 7,095,990 shares. The stock had previously closed at $277.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on V. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Visa from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $322.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Visa from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Visa from $315.00 to $311.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $313.81.

Visa Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $275.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.63. The company has a market cap of $523.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.31, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.42. The company had revenue of $8.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.92 billion. Visa had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 51.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 9.92 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.25%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total value of $2,382,309.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,687.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 970.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 107 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its position in Visa by 211.9% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Visa during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.