Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Short Interest Update

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,000,000 shares, a growth of 17.3% from the September 15th total of 7,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FOUR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shift4 Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.40.

Insider Transactions at Shift4 Payments

In other news, insider Jordan Frankel sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total value of $1,032,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 228,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,827,693.97. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jordan Frankel sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total value of $1,032,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 228,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,827,693.97. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Nancy Disman sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.30, for a total transaction of $1,626,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 182,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,874,566.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 30.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FOUR. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 79.0% in the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Shift4 Payments during the 2nd quarter worth $60,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 52,033.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the second quarter worth about $114,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

FOUR traded up $1.15 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.28. 1,280,880 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,376,458. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Shift4 Payments has a 1-year low of $42.91 and a 1-year high of $96.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.92, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.64.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.09. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 24.19%. The firm had revenue of $320.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $314.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Shift4 Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Shift4 Payments will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments, Inc (NYSE FOUR) provides integrated payment processing and technology solutions in the United States. Its payments platform provides omni-channel card acceptance and processing solutions, including end-to-end payment processing for various payment types; merchant acquiring; proprietary omni-channel gateway; complementary software integrations; integrated and mobile point-of-sale (POS) solutions; security and risk management solutions; and reporting and analytical tools, as well as tokenization, risk management/underwriting, payment device and chargeback management, fraud prevention, and gift card solutions.