Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Short Interest Down 8.1% in January

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,070,000 shares, a decrease of 8.1% from the January 15th total of 7,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,800,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

FOUR stock traded down $3.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $94.95. The company had a trading volume of 3,838,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,732,191. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $110.87 and a 200 day moving average of $97.43. Shift4 Payments has a fifty-two week low of $55.87 and a fifty-two week high of $127.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 29.38% and a net margin of 6.89%. As a group, research analysts predict that Shift4 Payments will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on FOUR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Shift4 Payments from $116.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark lowered Shift4 Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.19.

Insider Transactions at Shift4 Payments

In other news, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of Shift4 Payments 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $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 three months, insiders have sold 11,462 shares of company stock worth $1,211,364. 30.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FOUR. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Shift4 Payments during the third quarter worth $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 153.9% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 259 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.