Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of 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 daily volume of 1,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Shift4 Payments Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of FOUR opened at $101.85 on Friday. Shift4 Payments has a fifty-two week low of $55.87 and a fifty-two week high of $116.84. The firm has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.35, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $99.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Insider Activity at Shift4 Payments

In other news, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $23,884,216.95. The trade was a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jordan Frankel sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total transaction of $1,032,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 228,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,827,693.97. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,962 shares of company stock worth $2,243,489. Insiders own 30.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FOUR. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 50.8% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 5,883,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,940 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,834,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,098,000 after buying an additional 242,179 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,314,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,800,000 after acquiring an additional 235,355 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 11,776.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,730,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716,132 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 0.9% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,455,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,921,000 after acquiring an additional 12,804 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FOUR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens raised their target price on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Six 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 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.