Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,830,000 shares, an increase of 10.6% from the November 15th total of 7,080,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Shift4 Payments Stock Up 1.9 %

FOUR stock opened at $103.82 on Tuesday. 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. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of the firm’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 owns 37,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,748,585.23. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total value of $568,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 210,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,884,216.95. The trade was a 2.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,462 shares of company stock valued at $1,211,364. 30.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the third quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments in the second quarter worth about $60,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on FOUR. BTIG Research upped their target price on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on Shift4 Payments from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.10.

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.