Visa snaps seven straight sessions of gains

Visa (NYSE:V) snapped seven straight sessions of gains as the stock closed 0.33% lower, at $366.77 on Thursday.

The San Francisco-based payment technology company gained around 2.5% in the past seven trading sessions. Visa is up 5.07% over the past one month. The stock closed 0.58% higher, at $368 on Wednesday.

Mizuho Americas upgraded Visa (NYSE:V) to Outperform from Neutral on the premise that the U.S. consumers will increase their spending in categories where they’re more likely to pay with a card than cash.

The brokerage firm estimates that U.S. card penetration is at ~75%, compared with the consensus of 80%-90%.

“This leaves room for another decade of solid top-line growth domestically,” Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev wrote in a note to clients, increasing V’s price target to $425 from $359.

Seeking Alpha authors and the sell-side analysts see the stock as a BUY, while the Quant rating system has graded the stock as a HOLD.

The stock has gained around 16.70% so far this year, outperforming the broader S&P500 index, which rose about 1.52% during the same period.