VELA Investment Management LLC Buys 11,501 Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. $FOUR

VELA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) by 68.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,406 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,501 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Shift4 Payments were worth $2,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Shift4 Payments by 410.9% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 281 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 100.0% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 5,423.1% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 718 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 33.5% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Shift4 Payments by 441.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

FOUR stock opened at $64.02 on Thursday. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.23 and a 1 year high of $127.50. The company has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.76 and a 200 day moving average of $79.53. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.03). Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 61.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $102,817.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 54,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,913,624. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Nancy Disman sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $347,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 130,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,064,190. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,438 shares of company stock worth $1,278,317. 25.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FOUR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Shift4 Payments from $127.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $102.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Shift4 Payments from $92.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.25.

Shift4 Payments Company Profile

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.