visa

Again this week, things will be fairly quiet on the earnings front. Among the week's most high profile quarterly reports are those from Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI), which are forecast to post lower per-share earnings, as well as Discover Financial (NYSE: DFS) and FedEx (...

Ending a strong week in the stock market, business services providers Mastercard (NYSE: MA) and Visa (NYSE: V) reached new 52-week highs of $384.99 and $98.60 per share, respectively, in Friday's trading session. MasterCard recently announced an alliance with Western Union (NYSE: WU) to make...

The following dividend-paying companies offer attractive returns on equity and are expected to have strong earnings per share growth over the next five years. Their stocks are also trading in the ballpark of their 52-week highs. Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL): The New York-based cosmetics company...

VeriFone is trading up more than 5% this afternoon on the news that it will acquire Northern Europe's largest provider of payment and gateway services. According to VeriFone's own release, the company will spend approximately €600 million to acquire all of the equity of Point, a provider of...

The earnings crunch is in full swing this this week. Quarterly results are due from the likes of Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), from which analysts expect to see year-over-year earnings growth, as well as...

The following dividend-paying companies offer attractive returns on equity and are expected to have strong earnings per share growth over the next five years. Their stocks are also trading within shouting distance of their 52-week highs. Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD): This Columbus, Ohio-based...

With all the volatility in the past couple of months, which stocks have been riding above it all? Well, here are nine dividend-paying companies with share prices that are more than 20% higher than three months ago. Perhaps not surprisingly, gold-related companies are well represented on the list....

After last week's lull, things pick up again on the earnings front. Here is a peek at what analysts are expecting from some of this week's most anticipated quarterly reports: AutoZone (NYSE: AZO), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), FedEx (NYSE: FDX),...

So maybe you got out of the market when things got crazy, and you are looking to put a toe back in the water now that stocks have largely rebounded. Or perhaps you have been riding out the volatility but thinking you ought to diversify a little more. Well, here is a quick look at some options. They...

The earnings crunch continues this week even as the month of July winds to a close. Quarterly reports of note scheduled for the week include those from Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), Merck (NYSE: MRK) and Dow Chemical (...

MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Visa (NYSE: V) reached new 52-week highs of $322.27 and $90.83 per share, respectively, in Thursday's trading session. MasterCard surged from $279 to $309 per share at the end of June, following the Federal Reserve's decision to place a higher-than-proposed cap on debit-...

American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Discover (NYSE: DFS) reached new multiyear highs of $53.69 and $27.92 per share, respectively, Thursday morning. American Express recently launched a free tool designed to help small businesses monitor social media and also said members could use reward points to...

Stifel Nicolaus is out with its report today on Visa (NYSE: V), maintaining Buy. In a note to clients, Stifel Nicolaus writes, "Combined with mgmt's mitigation efforts (will be implemented in 2H11), we believe it is highly likely that Visa will exceed its 2012 guidance. As a result, we are leaving...

J.P. Morgan is out with its report today on Visa (NYSE: V), raising its PT from $89 to $101. In a note to clients, J.P. Morgan writes, "We are increasing our Dec 2011 price target to $101 (from $89), which applies a 17 multiple (up from 15x) to our new CY12E EPS of $5.95. We note our target...

“We reiterate our bullish view on V shares,” Goldman Sachs wrote in a report focusing on Visa (NYSE: V). “We expect that the combination of a strong growth profile and a further valuation reset to more closely reflect its long-term growth of 17% (vs. CY2012 P/E of 14.4X our EPS estimate of $6.11)...