Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $64.06, but opened at $65.65. Shift4 Payments shares last traded at $65.80, with a volume of 169,950 shares changing hands.

Specifically, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.15, for a total value of $1,202,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 243,880 shares in the company, valued at $19,546,982. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.15, for a total value of $1,202,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 243,880 shares in the company, valued at $19,546,982. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jared Isaacman acquired 39,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.04 per share, with a total value of $2,506,205.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 621,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,830,446.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 30.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FOUR shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $94.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $70.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.33.

Shift4 Payments Stock Up 6.6 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 45.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $269.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.85 million. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 25.21% and a net margin of 3.38%. As a group, analysts expect that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in Shift4 Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 79.0% in the 1st quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in Shift4 Payments in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 49,166.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Shift4 Payments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $90,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.