Visa (NYSE:V) Stock Falls 1.3% – Time to Sell?

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)’s share price fell 1.3% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $389.56 and last traded at $390.8710. 7,609,958 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 7,547,388 shares. The stock had previously closed at $396.06.

Key Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa received approval from the People’s Bank of China to begin preparing a domestic bank-card clearing business. The authorization gives Visa a path into China’s large domestic payments market, which was previously largely inaccessible for local transactions. However, additional regulatory, operational and licensing steps remain before the business can launch. Visa gets Beijing’s green light for bank card business
• Positive Sentiment: An investor letter highlighted Visa’s high margins, limited direct credit exposure and asset-light payments model. These characteristics support resilient profitability and differentiate Visa from lenders that bear greater consumer-credit risk. Visa Benefits from High Margins with Minimal Credit Exposure
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks included Visa among fintech stocks with growth potential from digital-payment adoption, artificial intelligence and expanding financial services. This reinforces the bullish long-term view, although it is an analyst recommendation rather than a new company announcement. Buy 5 Financial Technology Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage ahead of Visa’s fourth-quarter earnings is focused on its durable competitive advantages and forward valuation. With the stock near its 52-week high and trading at an elevated earnings multiple, investors may be demanding strong results and guidance. Visa Unpacking the 7 Powers and Forward Valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Visa is lowering interchange rates for tens of thousands of Canadian small businesses beginning October 24. While the move may support merchant acceptance and regulatory relations, lower fees could create a modest headwind for revenue per transaction. Visa Lowers Interchange Fees

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on V. Argus raised their target price on Visa from $396.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $406.00 price target (up from $389.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $445.00 price objective on Visa and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $425.52.

Visa Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $370.87 and its 200 day moving average is $344.55. The company has a market capitalization of $697.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. Visa’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa’s payout ratio is 22.79%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.34, for a total transaction of $687,690.78. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,778,929.36. This represents a 9.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.81, for a total value of $2,108,008.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,582.94. This trade represents a 27.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 78,792 shares of company stock worth $28,863,319. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Visa

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Woodstock Corp boosted its holdings in Visa by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 39,364 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $14,145,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Echo45 Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 7.6% in the third quarter. Echo45 Advisors LLC now owns 1,417 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 9.2% in the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 27,509 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $9,885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Visa by 1.8% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 317,425 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $114,060,000 after buying an additional 5,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Visa by 10.8% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 310,501 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $106,530,000 after buying an additional 30,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that operates one of the world’s largest electronic payments networks. Through its VisaNet platform, the company facilitates the authorization, clearing and settlement of payment transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments.

Visa provides payment products and services for credit, debit, prepaid and commercial transactions. Its offerings also include digital payment capabilities, tokenization, fraud prevention, risk management and other value-added services designed to support secure electronic commerce and contactless payments.