Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.05.

FOUR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $125.00 to $95.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $154.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Shift4 Payments by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,645,000 after buying an additional 7,349 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter worth $812,000. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter worth $328,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $358,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Shift4 Payments by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,058,369 shares of the company's stock worth $93,797,000 after acquiring an additional 53,610 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FOUR traded down $0.77 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.67. 868,230 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,595,926. The company has a quick ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.13. Shift4 Payments has a 52-week low of $55.87 and a 52-week high of $127.50. The company has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.80.

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

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.