Visa (NYSE:V) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Get Free Report)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $440.72 and last traded at $439.04, with a volume of 39,461 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $436.57.

Key Headlines Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: Visa increased its quarterly dividend 16% to $0.78 per share. The payout remains modest relative to earnings, leaving room for future increases; the dividend boost adds to a growth outlook already supported by Visa’s recent revenue and earnings growth. Article: Visa Just Raised Its Dividend 16%
  • Positive Sentiment: Visa established six technology hubs in Singapore focused on AI, cybersecurity, quantum computing and next-generation payments. The work could strengthen capabilities used across its global network, though the announcement did not specify near-term financial targets. Article: Visa Establishes Global Capability Hubs in Singapore
  • Positive Sentiment: Verifone has deployed Visa’s Featurespace fraud-screening technology across its payment gateways. The partnership extends Visa’s fraud-prevention services and may help merchants reduce fraud losses and chargebacks. Article: Verifone Turns to Visa’s Featurespace to Combat Fraud
  • Neutral Sentiment: Zacks Research made small, mixed revisions to quarterly earnings estimates: some were raised and others lowered. Its forecasts still point to earnings growth over the next several years, but the adjustments offer no clear broad-based change in expectations. Visa analyst coverage
  • Neutral Sentiment: A Visa survey found consumers plan to spend on physical holiday gifts even as travel remains desirable, but higher airfares and inflation are prompting more deliberate spending. This suggests transaction demand may hold up, while consumer caution remains a factor. Article: Consumers Are Spending on Physical Gifts
  • Negative Sentiment: CEO Ryan McInerney sold 5,875 shares, worth about $2.45 million. The sale was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, which reduces its significance as a signal about his view of the company. SEC insider-sale filing

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Visa from $420.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Visa from $430.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho set a $440.00 target price on Visa in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Visa from $396.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $445.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $440.03.

Get Our Latest Analysis on V

Visa Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $384.21 and its 200 day moving average is $343.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $780.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $12.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.20% and a return on equity of 70.50%. Visa’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 15.02 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total value of $2,161,236.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,582,059.38. This represents a 27.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.35, for a total value of $773,377.80. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $7,018,365.40. This represents a 9.93% 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. Insiders sold a total of 27,395 shares of company stock valued at $10,406,050 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of V. XXEC Inc. raised its holdings in Visa by 153,118.8% in the 2nd quarter. XXEC Inc. now owns 186,260,448 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $63,904,097,000 after purchasing an additional 186,138,883 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,872,209 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $28,432,626,000 after purchasing an additional 566,194 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,720,068 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $5,393,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,808,496 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Visa by 3.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,842,842 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,672,655,000 after acquiring an additional 316,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,714,919 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,646,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,315 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Visa Inc (NYSE: V) is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic payments between consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments. Through its VisaNet network, the company authorizes, clears and settles transactions made with Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, while generally not issuing cards, extending credit or setting cardholder account terms.

Visa provides payment products and services for consumer, commercial and government payments, as well as digital commerce and money movement.

Further Reading

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