Denise Morrison, a director at
Visa (V), recently added 455 shares. The buy increased her holdings by 8 percent, and came to a total cost of $84,096.
This marks the first insider buy at the company in the past three years. Generally, company executives have been regular sellers of Visa shares as their stock options have vested. A few directors have been modest sellers of shares at times as well.
Overall, insiders own about 0.2 percent of shares.
The credit card provider has seen shares trade higher by just 2 percent over the past year. While not a fantastic return, it’s still better than the loss in the overall stock market.
Revenues rose 12 percent, and earnings are up about 6 percent. Rising credit card balances could help profitability, however, there could also be a rise in losses if consumers become unable to pay their credit card balances.
Action to take: Generally, credit card companies have fared well over time. Visa is fairly valued at current prices, and is worth buying on a drop under $215. Shares yield about 0.8 percent at present.
For traders, shares have been trending higher since October, although that trade has flattened out in recent weeks. The April $200 puts, last going for about $1.65, offer mid-double-digit returns on a drop in shares in the coming weeks.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.