Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) – Research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group increased their FY2021 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Visa in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group analyst T. Williams now forecasts that the credit-card processor will post earnings of $5.44 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $5.28. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a “Buy” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Visa’s Q1 2022 earnings at $1.78 EPS, Q3 2022 earnings at $1.74 EPS, FY2022 earnings at $7.01 EPS and FY2023 earnings at $8.43 EPS. Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 28th. The credit-card processor reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Visa had a net margin of 49.74% and a return on equity of 37.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share.
V has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $243.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Sunday, October 11th. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $212.00 price objective (down previously from $233.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Visa from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 19th. Wedbush restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Visa from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.62.
NYSE V opened at $193.25 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.96. Visa has a 52-week low of $133.93 and a 52-week high of $220.39.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 10,442 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,284,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Mountain Capital Investment Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 251.6% during the third quarter. Mountain Capital Investment Advisors Inc now owns 12,367 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 8,850 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 3.8% during the third quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 5,147 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Cubic Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 384.7% during the fourth quarter. Cubic Asset Management LLC now owns 12,656 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,768,000 after acquiring an additional 10,045 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 5.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 554,454 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $110,874,000 after acquiring an additional 29,158 shares during the period. 80.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
In related news, CEO Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.40, for a total value of $1,884,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 132,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,779,004. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO James H. Hoffmeister sold 2,157 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.87, for a total value of $450,532.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,205 shares of company stock valued at $15,545,693. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 12th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 11th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.40%.
Visa Company Profile
Visa Inc operates as a payments technology company worldwide. The company facilitates digital payments among consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, strategic partners, and government entities. It operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions.
Further Reading: How is a management fee different from a performance fee?
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]
7 Semiconductor Stocks to Power Your Portfolio
Semiconductor stocks are thought of as cyclical stocks. However as technology continues to evolve, the cycles for semiconductors have become almost indiscernible. And for the last 18 months, semiconductor stocks have been some of the most volatile stocks.
But the iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) is up nearly 17% (16.8%) in 2020. That far outpaces the S&P 500. And this is on the heels of 2019 when the normally “boring” index surged over 60%.
What are the catalysts for semiconductor stocks? At this point, the better question may be what isn’t a catalyst for this group. The 5G buildout looks to finally be underway despite the pandemic. Data centers keep on growing, new gaming consoles will be out later this year, and work from anywhere will continue to be the reality for many Americans.
Each of these segments will define the semiconductor industry for at least the rest of this year. And are likely to continue to dominate our national conversation long after the pandemic is over.
But those aren’t the only catalysts. Online learning is going to increase in importance. And that means students will need the laptops and tablets that are capable of handling the speed and processing power needed for remote learning.
And there’s still time for you to profit from this growing sector. In this presentation, we’ve identified seven of the best semiconductor stocks that still offer good growth opportunities.
View the “7 Semiconductor Stocks to Power Your Portfolio”.