Visa (NYSE:V) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $351.90 and last traded at $351.26, with a volume of 6059091 shares. The stock had previously closed at $348.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on V shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $279.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $354.73.

Visa Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $322.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $297.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $652.88 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.97.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total transaction of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $5,510,815.18. This trade represents a 10.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,056 shares of company stock valued at $19,830,050 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Riverstone Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $217,000. Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the third quarter worth $731,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its position in Visa by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 9,678 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the third quarter valued at $616,000. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Visa by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 77,443 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $24,475,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. 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.