Jackson Square Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 74,100 Shift4 Payments, Inc. $FOUR

Jackson Square Partners LLC bought a new position in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 74,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,735,000. Shift4 Payments comprises approximately 2.3% of Jackson Square Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Jackson Square Partners LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Shift4 Payments as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in Shift4 Payments by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 6,338,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,215,000 after acquiring an additional 890,990 shares in the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 12.6% in the second quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 6,665,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,612,000 after purchasing an additional 745,650 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 25.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,056,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,139,000 after purchasing an additional 419,132 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 71.3% during the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 584,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,219,000 after buying an additional 243,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 16.6% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,505,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,253,000 after buying an additional 214,627 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FOUR opened at $59.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.63. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.65 and a 1-year high of $127.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 61.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Taylor Lauber sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total value of $828,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 273,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,877,572. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,438 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total transaction of $102,817.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 54,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,913,624. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 18,438 shares of company stock worth $1,278,317 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 25.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on FOUR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $115.00 to $101.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Loop Capital set a $80.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Shift4 Payments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.25.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments is a U.S.-based provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, serving merchants across the hospitality, retail, e-commerce, gaming and lodging industries. The company’s platform enables businesses to accept in-store, online and mobile payments through a combination of point-of-sale hardware, payment gateway services and back-office software. By centralizing transaction processing and reporting, Shift4 aims to simplify payments, enhance security and streamline operations for its merchant customers.

The company’s core offerings include encrypted point-of-sale terminals, cloud-based payment gateways, and developer-friendly APIs for online and mobile checkouts.