Visa (NYSE:V) Trading Down 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) traded down 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $328.44 and last traded at $329.26. 5,640,095 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 7,231,438 shares. The stock had previously closed at $331.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.84.

Visa Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $611.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $340.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.74.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) 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 expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.79%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $874,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total transaction of $815,313.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,569,094.56. The trade was a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,842,490 in the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Visa

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 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.