Short Interest in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Rises By 17.3%

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) saw a significant 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FOUR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. 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. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Shift4 Payments from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Shift4 Payments in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jordan Frankel sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 228,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,827,693.97. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Nancy Disman sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 182,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,874,566.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 30.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Senator Investment Group LP boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 8,551.1% during the second quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 562,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,240,000 after acquiring an additional 555,737 shares during the last quarter. Forge First Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,242,000. Deepwater Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 23.7% during the first quarter. Deepwater Asset Management LLC now owns 206,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,668,000 after acquiring an additional 39,589 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 113.0% in the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 457,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,532,000 after purchasing an additional 242,684 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 218,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,465,000 after buying an additional 14,438 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

NYSE:FOUR traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $95.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,280,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,458. Shift4 Payments has a 52-week low of $42.91 and a 52-week high of $96.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.92. The company has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 63.95, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.64.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $320.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $314.10 million. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 24.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Shift4 Payments will post 3.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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.