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

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,550,000 shares, a decrease of 16.3% from the November 30th total of 7,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FOUR shares. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Benchmark cut shares of Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $120.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $118.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In related news, insider Jordan Frankel sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.01, for a total transaction of $495,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 222,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,991,309.12. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.07, for a total value of $147,764.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,748,585.23. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,462 shares of company stock worth $1,211,364. Corporate insiders own 30.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP increased 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 worth $521,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980,940 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 9.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,834,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,098,000 after purchasing an additional 242,179 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 11.3% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,314,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,800,000 after purchasing an additional 235,355 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 11,776.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,730,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in Shift4 Payments by 0.9% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,455,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,921,000 after purchasing an additional 12,804 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

Shares of FOUR traded down $2.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $104.70. 718,755 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,477,184. Shift4 Payments has a one year low of $55.87 and a one year high of $116.84. The firm has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.90, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $101.35 and a 200-day moving average of $86.08.

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.