Visa (NYSE:V) Shares Up 2.3% - Time to Buy?

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) shot up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $341.25 and last traded at $339.09. 1,352,925 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 7,194,423 shares. The stock had previously closed at $331.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on V. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $358.17.

Visa Trading Down 0.1 %

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 50 day moving average is $338.42 and its 200-day moving average is $322.66. The company has a market capitalization of $623.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.79%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $874,480.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.44, for a total value of $3,020,792.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $188,186.28. This trade represents a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,842,490 in the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Visa

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of V. Heritage Investment Group Inc. grew its position in Visa by 12.6% during the first quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,340 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd increased its stake in Visa by 56.0% in the 1st quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 8,912 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,123,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 3.2% in the first quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in Visa by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,281 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter worth approximately $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

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.