Calamos Advisors LLC Acquires 63,884 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 761,893 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 63,884 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up approximately 0.8% of Calamos Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $230,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of V. Invariant Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $969,000. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 58.1% during the 1st quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 4,201 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Visa by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $56,455,834,000 after buying an additional 1,054,343 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in Visa by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 527,530 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $180,088,000 after buying an additional 23,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Visa by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 28,922 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $10,143,000 after acquiring an additional 6,688 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total value of $3,608,455.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,219,704.26. This trade represents a 40.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. 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 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE: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 firm has a market cap of $640.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $331.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $324.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on V shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Loop Capital began coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 29th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $394.00 price target for the company. Seven investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price 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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