Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 19,351 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Calamos Advisors trimmed its stake in Visa by 2.7% in Q4, selling 19,351 shares and now holds 698,009 shares valued at $244,799,000, making Visa about 0.9% of its portfolio and its 15th-largest position.
• Analyst sentiment is positive with an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.79 (7 Strong Buy, 19 Buy, 3 Hold).
• Insider Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares on March 11 at an average price of $309.62 (a 19.53% reduction in his holding); institutional ownership stands at ~82.15% and Visa's market cap is roughly $562.1B with a trailing P/E of ~29.05 after a recent quarter that modestly beat EPS and revenue estimates.

Calamos Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 698,009 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 19,351 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 0.9% of Calamos Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $244,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ProVise Management Group LLC increased its stake in Visa by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 47,972 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $16,824,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Visa by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 12,926 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,533,000 after acquiring an additional 3,286 shares during the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Visa by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 64,554 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $22,640,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Visa by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 720 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden Reserve Retirement LLC bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $435,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on V shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $385.00 price objective on Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America started coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Visa from $372.00 to $361.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $387.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Price Performance

V opened at $309.66 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $309.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $327.83. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $375.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $562.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.69 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 61.74% and a net margin of 50.23%.Visa's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.75 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.14%.

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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