Visa (NYSE:V) Stock Price Up 2.3% – Still a Buy?

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) shares were up 2.3% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $359.49 and last traded at $357.0210. Approximately 9,954,062 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 24% from the average daily volume of 8,041,487 shares. The stock had previously closed at $348.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.91.

Visa Trading Up 2.3%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $330.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $324.86. The firm has a market cap of $640.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. 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 currently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,219,704.26. This trade represents a 40.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $56,455,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054,343 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Visa by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,798,151 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $29,038,140,000 after purchasing an additional 626,821 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Visa by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,042,586 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,411,395,000 after purchasing an additional 388,996 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,092,294 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $14,411,480,000 after buying an additional 716,218 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,835,336 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $8,359,291,000 after buying an additional 398,459 shares during the period. 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.