Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Short Interest Up 17.3% in September

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,000,000 shares, an increase 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $96.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.40.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

FOUR stock traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $95.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,280,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,458. Shift4 Payments has a one year low of $42.91 and a one year high of $96.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.92.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Nancy Disman sold 20,000 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.30, for a total transaction of $1,626,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 182,959 shares in the company, valued at $14,874,566.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jordan Frankel sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total value of $1,032,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 228,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,827,693.97. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Nancy Disman sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.30, for a total value of $1,626,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 182,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,874,566.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 30.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 79.0% in the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 2nd quarter worth about $60,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 52,033.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the second quarter valued at approximately $114,000. 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.