Short Interest in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Drops By 8.4%

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,080,000 shares, a drop of 8.4% from the October 31st total of 7,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on FOUR shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $93.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 5,000 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total value of $568,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 210,045 shares in the company, valued at $23,884,216.95. The trade was a 2.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Nancy Disman sold 20,000 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.30, for a total transaction of $1,626,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 182,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,874,566.70. This represents a 9.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock worth $3,226,675. 30.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 5,883,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980,940 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,834,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,098,000 after acquiring an additional 242,179 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,314,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,800,000 after acquiring an additional 235,355 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 11,776.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,730,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716,132 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,455,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,921,000 after acquiring an additional 12,804 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FOUR traded down $7.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $106.84. The company had a trading volume of 2,244,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,434,390. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $97.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71. The stock has a market cap of $9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.70. Shift4 Payments has a 52-week low of $55.87 and a 52-week high of $116.84.

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.