Shift4 Payments Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:FOUR)

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 3,136 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 61% compared to the average daily volume of 1,943 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total transaction of $568,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 210,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,884,216.95. This represents a 2.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Nancy Disman sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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. The trade was a 9.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock worth $3,226,675. 30.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 66.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the third quarter valued at about $169,000. Orion Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Shift4 Payments by 10.5% during the third quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 8,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,058,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,797,000 after purchasing an additional 53,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 15.5% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shift4 Payments Trading Up 2.9 %

Shift4 Payments stock traded up $2.85 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $102.81. The stock had a trading volume of 794,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,455,571. The company has a fifty day moving average of $97.57 and a 200 day moving average of $81.94. The firm has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.70. Shift4 Payments has a 52-week low of $55.87 and a 52-week high of $116.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on FOUR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Shift4 Payments from $93.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Benchmark lowered Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.29.

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.