Visa (NYSE:V) Shares Down 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $318.68 and last traded at $322.5730. 9,937,496 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 27% from the average session volume of 7,831,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $326.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on V. Citigroup dropped their price target on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $403.00 target price (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of 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 two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $389.33.

Visa Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $569.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $315.33 and a 200-day moving average of $324.87. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clayton Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 446.2% during the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 200.0% in the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Visa

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.