Rafferty Asset Management LLC Invests $318,000 in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FOUR. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth $358,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth $344,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 317.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,427 shares of the company's stock worth $1,705,000 after purchasing an additional 12,489 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,107 shares of the company's stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FOUR traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $92.32. 430,018 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,653,522. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.45 and a 52 week high of $127.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $83.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.60. The company has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.80.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.31. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company had revenue of $368.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $886.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FOUR. Benchmark raised shares of Shift4 Payments from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $117.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Monday, February 3rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $116.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President David Taylor Lauber sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total value of $229,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 264,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,287,295.20. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Nancy Disman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.98, for a total transaction of $849,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,094,317.56. This trade represents a 5.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,695 shares of company stock worth $1,097,380 over the last ninety days. 25.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Shift4 Payments 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.