Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $55.83 and last traded at $55.9070, with a volume of 217714 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on FOUR. Loop Capital set a $80.00 price target on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $95.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $102.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $65.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $112.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.25.

Shift4 Payments Stock Down 0.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.52. The firm has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.63.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Shift4 Payments

In other Shift4 Payments news, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.50, for a total value of $102,817.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 54,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,913,624. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Taylor Lauber sold 12,000 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 273,588 shares in the company, valued at $18,877,572. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 18,438 shares of company stock valued at $1,278,317 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 25.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FOUR. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 178,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,802,000 after buying an additional 71,489 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 2.6% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,636,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,236,000 after buying an additional 41,548 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 71.3% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 584,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,219,000 after buying an additional 243,161 shares during the last quarter. Maestria Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 36.6% during the third quarter. Maestria Partners LLC now owns 372,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,826,000 after buying an additional 99,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council acquired a new position in Shift4 Payments in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,814,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.