Visa (NYSE:V) Stock Price Up 1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s share price shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Friday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $371.00 to $394.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Visa traded as high as $355.84 and last traded at $355.2890. Approximately 4,479,982 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 7,969,976 shares. The stock had previously closed at $351.60.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on V. Weiss Ratings upgraded Visa from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $394.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Evercore set a $350.00 price objective on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $399.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total value of $3,608,455.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,219,704.26. The trade was a 40.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist Financial raised its price target on Visa to $394 from $371 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling more upside as analysts remain constructive on the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Visa, adding to the bullish analyst momentum around the company’s earnings outlook and business fundamentals.
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports suggest Visa could deliver another “business as usual” earnings beat next week, supported by resilient consumer credit demand, strong payment volumes, and ongoing digital payments growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Visa also continues to announce new partnerships, including embedded-finance and agentic-commerce initiatives with Airwallex and Lianlian, which highlight continued expansion opportunities in business-to-business and next-generation payments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary comparing Visa and Mastercard favorably to American Express after AMEX’s post-earnings selloff may be helping keep Visa steady, but it is more of an industry read-through than a company-specific catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa is also drawing attention as a “wide-moat” stock, reflecting its durable competitive position, though that is mainly a long-term quality argument rather than a fresh near-term driver.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invariant Investment Management purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $969,000. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Visa by 58.1% in the first quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 4,201 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $56,455,834,000 after buying an additional 1,054,343 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 28,922 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $10,143,000 after buying an additional 6,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,966,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 1.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $637.31 billion, a PE ratio of 30.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $337.58 and a 200 day moving average of $325.34.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.76 EPS. Visa’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.13 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Company Profile

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.