Visa (NYSE:V) Insider Sells 3,401 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Visa insider Paul Fabara sold 3,401 shares for about $1.44 million at an average price of $423.09 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. He retained 33,913 shares after the sale.
• Visa’s latest quarter beat analyst expectations, with EPS of $3.48 and revenue of $12.14 billion; revenue rose 13.2% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.78 per share.
• Visa shares fell 1.2% to $420.26 in Thursday trading, while analysts maintained a favorable outlook: the consensus rating was Buy with an average price target of $443.35.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) insider Paul Fabara sold 3,401 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.09, for a total transaction of $1,438,929.09. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 33,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,348,251.17. The trade was a 9.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Visa Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE V traded down $5.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $420.26. 5,634,568 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,510,172. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $388.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $346.16. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $442.23. The company has a market cap of $749.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $12.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.20% and a return on equity of 70.50%. Visa's revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 15.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a boost from Visa's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's payout ratio is 25.30%.

Top Visa Stories

These are some of the V stories that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Anchorage Digital are enabling eligible partners to settle obligations on VisaNet using Western Union’s USDPT stablecoin. The move adds another settlement option and could support faster, around-the-clock payments. Visa expands stablecoin services with Anchorage
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable: Bernstein reiterated Outperform and raised its price target to $486, while Citigroup maintained Buy and set a $490 target. Bernstein names Visa among preferred payment stocks Citigroup recommendations
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa’s general counsel sold 1,867 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and retained 18,404 shares, making the transaction a limited signal of her outlook. SEC filing

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Visa

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of V. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its position in Visa by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $810,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Visa by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,682 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,323,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Visa by 0.7% in the third quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,569 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,282,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argyle Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Visa by 0.7% in the third quarter. Argyle Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,912 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,406,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $460.00 price target (up from $435.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Clear Str raised Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Visa from $475.00 to $486.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $466.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $443.35.

About Visa

Visa Inc. operates a global payments network that connects consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. Its network supports the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payments, including transactions made in person and online. The company's services include payment processing, fraud prevention, identity and risk management, and money-transfer solutions such as Visa Direct. Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards are issued by participating financial institutions; Visa generally provides the network and related services rather than issuing cards or extending credit directly to consumers.

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