AMF Tjanstepension AB Buys 36,221 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its Visa stake by 2.6% in the first quarter, buying 36,221 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,423,049 shares worth about $430.1 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.31 and revenue of $11.23 billion, both ahead of Wall Street expectations; revenue also rose 17.1% year over year.
• The company authorized a $20 billion share repurchase program and continues to attract bullish analyst coverage, with a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $397.91.

AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,423,049 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 36,221 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 2.9% of AMF Tjanstepension AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. AMF Tjanstepension AB owned about 0.08% of Visa worth $430,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,455,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054,343 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Visa by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,798,151 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $29,038,140,000 after acquiring an additional 626,821 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Visa by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,042,586 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $15,411,395,000 after acquiring an additional 388,996 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Visa by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,092,294 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $14,411,480,000 after purchasing an additional 716,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Visa by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,835,336 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $8,359,291,000 after purchasing an additional 398,459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of Visa stock opened at $349.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $626.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $330.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $324.86. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $365.02.

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

Visa announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $6,625,440. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on V shares. Piper Sandler began coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $394.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $403.00 price objective (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report 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, Evercore set a $350.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $397.91.

Visa Company Profile

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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