Visa Inc. manages the world's most recognized financial services brand--Visa. The company incorporated in 2007 and trades under the symbol "V" on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Investors could begin trading Visa stock in 2008 when it made its initial public offering (IPO). The company raised nearly $18 billion, making it the largest IPO in U.S. history. Visa, located in San Francisco, Calif., employs 5,700 people and as of 2009 had revenue of $6.91 billion.

History Maker

On March 19, 2008, Visa, Inc., made U.S. history when it completed the largest ever IPO. The company sold $406 million worth of class A common stock for $44 per share. As of Dec. 10, 2009, Visa had market capitalization of $70.41 billion, its stock traded at $82.14 per share and it paid an annual dividend of $.50. The company also reported $32.28 billion in assets vs. $9.09 billion in liabilities, a negative cash flow of $362 million and combined short and long term debt of $56 million. According to Marketwatch.com, "The company provides financial institutions, its primary customers, with product platforms encompassing consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments." (See Reference 1.) Visa was founded in 1958 by Bank of America and prior to the IPO was owned by 13,000 banks. (See Reference 2.)

Competitors

Visa's largest competitor, Mastercard, also provides many of the same services Visa offers. Mastercard trades on the NYSE under the symbol "MA". The Mastercard IPO pales in comparison to the Visa IPO. Mastercard floated 61.52 million shares at an offer price of $39 per share, effectively raising $2.39 billion. Mastercard had a market capitalization of $26.80 billion as of mid-December 2009, making it the No. 2 payment processing company in the U.S. (See References 3.) American Express sits at No. 3 in the payment processing and settling sector. American Express was founded in 1850 as a joint stock association and incorporated in 1965 in New York. As of mid-December 2009, American Express had a market capitalization of $47.84 billion and employed over 66,000 people.

Investing in Visa

Online traders can purchase shares of Visa through any online trading platform or brokerage. Traders investing in Visa options must have a margin account to initiate the transaction. The investor using a full service brokerage firm can call his broker to initiate the trade. Visa had an average trading volume of 5.75 million shares per day as of mid-December 2009.

Source:

Marketwatch: Investing - Stock

MSNBC: Business - Stocks

Moneycentral: MSN - Fact sheet