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

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,550,000 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the November 30th total of 7,830,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

NYSE FOUR traded down $2.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $104.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 718,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,477,184. The business's fifty day moving average price is $101.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.08. Shift4 Payments has a twelve month low of $55.87 and a twelve month high of $116.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark cut shares of Shift4 Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $106.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Shift4 Payments from $93.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Shift4 Payments news, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.07, for a total transaction of $147,764.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,748,585.23. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 5,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 210,045 shares in the company, valued at $23,884,216.95. This represents a 2.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,462 shares of company stock worth $1,211,364 over the last three months. Company insiders own 30.57% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Shift4 Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in Shift4 Payments in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Shift4 Payments in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

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.