Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $321.74.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on V. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Visa from $322.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $339.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $321.00 price target (up previously from $318.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of Visa stock opened at $309.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $577.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $289.52 and a 200 day moving average of $277.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Visa has a 12 month low of $251.61 and a 12 month high of $312.44.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. The firm had revenue of $9.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Visa will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.25%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $668,602.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total transaction of $2,382,309.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,687.06. This trade represents a 94.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Visa

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arjuna Capital increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 11,851 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter worth about $731,000. Mechanics Bank Trust Department grew its position in shares of Visa by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 32,460 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $8,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,410 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 404,914 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $111,331,000 after purchasing an additional 20,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its holdings in Visa by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 58,655 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $15,299,000 after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares during the period. 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.