Short Interest in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Drops By 8.1%

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,070,000 shares, a decline of 8.1% from the January 15th total of 7,690,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Shift4 Payments Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:FOUR traded up $4.76 on Tuesday, hitting $126.04. 3,582,011 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,281,054. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.72. Shift4 Payments has a 12 month low of $55.87 and a 12 month high of $127.50. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.38.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.06. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 23.86%. Analysts anticipate that Shift4 Payments will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FOUR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Shift4 Payments from $120.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Shift4 Payments from $93.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $106.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.07, for a total value of $147,764.34. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total transaction of $568,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 210,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,884,216.95. The trade was a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,462 shares of company stock worth $1,211,364 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 30.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FOUR. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter worth $726,000. JT Stratford LLC grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 18,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after buying an additional 2,537 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 78,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,192,000 after buying an additional 10,440 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Shift4 Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $12,563,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.