Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 444,588 Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR)

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its stake in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,745,084 shares of the company’s stock after selling 444,588 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Shift4 Payments were worth $181,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 153.9% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new position in Shift4 Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Shift4 Payments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In other Shift4 Payments news, CFO Nancy Disman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.98, for a total transaction of $849,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,094,317.56. This trade represents a 5.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President David Taylor Lauber sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total transaction of $229,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 264,856 shares in the company, valued at $24,287,295.20. This trade represents a 0.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,695 shares of company stock valued at $1,097,380 over the last ninety days. 30.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Shift4 Payments Trading Down 2.3 %

Shift4 Payments stock opened at $84.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.87 and a 12-month high of $127.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $103.34 and a 200 day moving average of $100.20.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $405.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 29.00%. As a group, research analysts predict that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FOUR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $154.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed 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 on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.30.

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.