Short Interest in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Grows By 6.9%

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,000,000 shares, a growth 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.

Shift4 Payments Stock Up 6.5 %

Shares of Shift4 Payments stock traded up $6.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $114.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,192,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,098,660. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.60. Shift4 Payments has a one year low of $55.87 and a one year 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $118.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays started coverage on Shift4 Payments in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna raised their target price on Shift4 Payments from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America cut Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $112.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $93.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In other Shift4 Payments news, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total transaction of $568,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.07, for a total transaction of $147,764.34. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,462 shares of company stock valued at $1,211,364 in the last 90 days. 30.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new stake in Shift4 Payments in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,378,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 4.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,021,000 after acquiring an additional 3,040 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 35.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 849,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,315,000 after acquiring an additional 221,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 217.2% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 7,631 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.