Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) saw a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,830,000 shares, an increase of 10.6% from the November 15th total of 7,080,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Insider Activity at Shift4 Payments

In other news, insider Jordan Frankel sold 12,500 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total transaction of $1,032,125.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 228,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,827,693.97. The trade was a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.07, for a total transaction of $147,764.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,748,585.23. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,962 shares of company stock worth $2,243,489 over the last quarter. 30.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FOUR. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Shift4 Payments by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 4,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 1.8% in the second quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 11,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $844,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Shift4 Payments by 3.3% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 6,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 27.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 7.7% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FOUR shares. BTIG Research upped their price target on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $93.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.10.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

FOUR opened at $101.85 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.62. Shift4 Payments has a 52-week low of $55.87 and a 52-week high of $116.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Shift4 Payments Company Profile

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.