Visa (NYSE:V) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08, Zacks reports. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%.

Visa Stock Performance

V stock traded up $3.95 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $341.46. The company had a trading volume of 4,293,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,196,698. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $338.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $323.40. Visa has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $366.54. The firm has a market cap of $634.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $874,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.00, for a total value of $3,129,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,931. This represents a 94.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Visa stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 50.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 6,883 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $6,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $393.00 price target (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $358.17.

About Visa

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.

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