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

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,000,000 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the December 15th total of 6,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Insider Transactions at Shift4 Payments

In other news, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.07, for a total value of $147,764.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,748,585.23. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jordan Frankel sold 5,000 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.01, for a total transaction 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 $21,991,309.12. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,462 shares of company stock worth $1,211,364. Company insiders own 30.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Senator Investment Group LP grew its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 8,551.1% in the 2nd quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 562,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,240,000 after purchasing an additional 555,737 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 41.9% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 492,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,666,000 after buying an additional 145,444 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Shift4 Payments by 26.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,330,000 after buying an additional 7,905 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 113.0% in the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 457,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,532,000 after buying an additional 242,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 242,179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FOUR traded up $6.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $114.13. 2,192,386 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,098,660. The firm has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of 62.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.97. Shift4 Payments has a fifty-two week low of $55.87 and a fifty-two week high of $116.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FOUR has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on Shift4 Payments from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $118.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.90.

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.