Granahan Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Shift4 Payments, Inc. $FOUR

Key Points

• Granahan Investment Management sold 281,414 shares of Shift4 Payments, reducing its stake in the company by 54.2%, leaving it with 238,142 shares valued at approximately $19.5 million.
• Shift4 Payments reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.10 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20, while revenues grew by 28.9% year-over-year, totaling $413.4 million.
• Despite recent insider selling, the stock has a Moderate Buy rating from analysts and an average price target of $115.21, with several firms maintaining a "buy" rating on the stock.

Granahan Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Free Report) by 54.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 238,142 shares of the company's stock after selling 281,414 shares during the quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Shift4 Payments worth $19,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FOUR. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Shift4 Payments by 84.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 520,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,068,000 after purchasing an additional 238,478 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $1,550,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,609 shares of the company's stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 2,510,014 shares of the company's stock worth $260,489,000 after purchasing an additional 367,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 43,781 shares of the company's stock worth $4,544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James J. Whalen sold 794 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.89, for a total value of $71,372.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 56,324 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,062,964.36. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Goldsmith-Grover sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.53, for a total transaction of $94,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $706,517.22. This trade represents a 11.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,051 shares of company stock valued at $1,551,297. Insiders own 25.15% of the company's stock.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

Shares of FOUR stock traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $86.13. 449,041 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,795,181. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.09 and a 52-week high of $127.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.72.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.10). Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 37.05% and a net margin of 6.11%.The business had revenue of $413.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $967.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. Shift4 Payments's revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.21.

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.