Visa (NYSE:V) Trading Up 0.7% - Still a Buy?

Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) rose 0.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $350.69 and last traded at $349.95. Approximately 936,773 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 7,213,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $347.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Macquarie decreased their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $362.38.

Visa Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $337.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.63. The stock has a market cap of $648.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. The business had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.51 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.72%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total value of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $889,868.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. The trade was a 17.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 143,208 shares of company stock worth $48,905,978 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Visa

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.