Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 159,000 Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. $FOUR

Key Points

• Schwartz Investment Counsel increased its Shift4 Payments stake by 55.5% in the first quarter, buying 159,000 additional shares for a total of 445,691 shares worth about $19.49 million.
• Insider buying also stood out: major shareholder Jared Isaacman purchased 193,000 shares at $40.66 each, boosting his position by 12.1%.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $68.24, while the company recently beat revenue expectations but missed EPS estimates in its latest quarterly report.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Free Report) by 55.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 445,691 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 159,000 shares during the quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.55% of Shift4 Payments worth $19,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FOUR. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 100.0% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,443 shares of the company's stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 5,410 shares of the company's stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments in the 2nd quarter valued at about $249,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Shift4 Payments by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Shift4 Payments

In related news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman acquired 193,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $40.66 per share, with a total value of $7,847,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,787,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,677,920.30. The trade was a 12.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FOUR has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a "market perform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Shift4 Payments from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Capital One Financial set a $50.00 target price on Shift4 Payments in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Shift4 Payments from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.24.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

Shares of FOUR stock opened at $49.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.38 and a 200-day moving average of $50.03. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a one year low of $34.56 and a one year high of $108.50.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 2.63% and a return on equity of 33.55%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 49.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.500-5.700 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shift4 Payments 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.

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