Visa (NYSE:V) Trading Down 0.8% - Here's Why

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 0.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $303.84 and last traded at $305.22. 1,278,874 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 4,858,976 shares. The stock had previously closed at $307.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $318.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Visa from $339.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Visa from $311.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $319.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $330.85.

Visa Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $571.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $312.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $287.32.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $9.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.49 billion. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.23 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Visa's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.25%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Visa

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Greenfield Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Visa by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 5,344 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Christensen King & Associates Investment Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $227,000. Grandview Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 6,763 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC increased its stake in Visa by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellenbecker Investment Group raised its holdings in Visa by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 1,834 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Company Profile

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.