Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 159,000 Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. $FOUR

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) by 55.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 445,691 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159,000 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Shift4 Payments were worth $19,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FOUR. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 100.0% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 282.2% in the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Summer Road LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on FOUR shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Shift4 Payments from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised Shift4 Payments from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.24.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

NYSE FOUR opened at $49.19 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.56 and a 1 year high of $108.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 58.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.41.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 2.63% and a return on equity of 33.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.500-5.700 EPS. Analysts predict that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Shift4 Payments

In other Shift4 Payments news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman bought 193,000 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $40.66 per share, for a total transaction of $7,847,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,787,455 shares in the company, valued at $72,677,920.30. This represents a 12.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.54% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Profile

Shift4 Payments is a U.S.-based provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, serving merchants across the hospitality, retail, e-commerce, gaming and lodging industries. The company’s platform enables businesses to accept in-store, online and mobile payments through a combination of point-of-sale hardware, payment gateway services and back-office software. By centralizing transaction processing and reporting, Shift4 aims to simplify payments, enhance security and streamline operations for its merchant customers.

The company’s core offerings include encrypted point-of-sale terminals, cloud-based payment gateways, and developer-friendly APIs for online and mobile checkouts.