Visa (NYSE:V) Shares Up 2.3% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Visa shares rose 2.3% in mid-day trading, reaching as high as $333.43 as volume came in below average.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on the stock: several firms raised targets or reiterated buy ratings, and Visa now has a consensus price target of $387.67 with an average rating of “Buy.”
• Visa posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also announcing a quarterly dividend and a new $20 billion share buyback authorization.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $333.43 and last traded at $333.1360. 5,264,371 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 7,692,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $325.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 price target for the company. Macquarie Infrastructure restated an "outperform" rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $350.00 target price on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.67.

Visa Trading Up 2.3%

The company has a market cap of $597.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.76 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invariant Investment Management purchased a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $969,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,455,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054,343 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 24.1% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 823,262 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $281,045,000 after acquiring an additional 159,906 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Visa by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,352,766 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $803,187,000 after acquiring an additional 238,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Visa by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 527,530 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $180,088,000 after acquiring an additional 23,863 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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