Visa (NYSE:V) Shares Up 3.5% After Strong Earnings

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s share price traded up 3.5% on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $295.78 and last traded at $291.74. 3,224,090 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 7,044,292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $281.88.

The credit-card processor reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.13. Visa had a return on equity of 51.94% and a net margin of 54.72%. The company had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. William Blair raised shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.26.

Insider Activity

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total transaction of $2,382,309.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,687.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 970.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 107 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 211.9% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $533.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

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.