5,979 Shares in Visa Inc. $V Acquired by ABC Arbitrage SA

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Visa, buying 5,979 shares valued at about $1.8 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.31 topping estimates and revenue of $11.23 billion beating expectations, while revenue rose 17.1% year over year.
• The company also announced a $20 billion share repurchase program and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share; Wall Street remains broadly bullish with an average Buy rating and a consensus price target of about $397.91.

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,979 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $1,807,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in V. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 4.9% during the first quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,904,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 65.4% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 2.2% in the first quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 93,673 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $28,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,997 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 761,893 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $230,275,000 after purchasing an additional 63,884 shares during the period. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 15,685 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,741,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total value of $3,608,455.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,219,704.26. This trade represents a 40.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of V opened at $357.02 on Tuesday. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $365.02. The stock has a market cap of $640.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's fifty day moving average is $331.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $324.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.76 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $412.00 price objective on shares of Visa and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore set a $350.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Visa from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $397.91.

About Visa

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world's largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa's network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa's product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

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