Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Hits New 52-Week High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $125.52 and last traded at $122.98, with a volume of 312349 shares. The stock had previously closed at $121.28.

The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.06. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 4.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FOUR. Benchmark lowered Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on Shift4 Payments from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Shift4 Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Seven 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,748,585.23. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jordan Frankel sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.01, for a total value of $495,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 222,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,991,309.12. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,462 shares of company stock valued at $1,211,364. 30.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FOUR. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 50.8% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 5,883,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980,940 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,539,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,668,000 after acquiring an additional 562,774 shares during the last quarter. Cat Rock Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,222,000. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 2,510,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,489,000 after acquiring an additional 367,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,198,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,689,000 after acquiring an additional 350,703 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shift4 Payments Stock Up 3.9 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.32 and a 200 day moving average of $96.93. The company has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a PE ratio of 68.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71.

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.