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

Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $355.84.

A number of research firms have recently commented on V. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $393.00 price target (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, March 21st.

Visa Stock Up 0.2 %

Visa stock opened at $335.88 on Wednesday. Visa has a twelve month low of $252.70 and a twelve month high of $366.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $623.98 billion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $341.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $319.63.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. On average, research analysts predict that Visa will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.79%.

Insider Activity

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $188,186.28. This represents a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total transaction of $12,875,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,642,333.60. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 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.