Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Stock Price Up 5.7% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shift4 Payments shares rose 5.7% to approximately $43.49, although trading volume was 42% below the average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $60.24, with 11 Buy, 10 Hold and 2 Sell recommendations.
• The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.32 in EPS versus $1.26 expected and 50.9% year-over-year revenue growth. Institutional investors own approximately 98.87% of the shares.

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 5.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $43.35 and last traded at $43.4930. Approximately 1,147,199 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 1,974,973 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on FOUR. Mizuho set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Monday, August 10th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Shift4 Payments from $74.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research cut Shift4 Payments from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Shift4 Payments from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 price objective on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.24.

Shift4 Payments Stock Up 4.8%

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $47.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.76. The company has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.65 million. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 2.20% and a return on equity of 28.40%. Shift4 Payments's revenue for the quarter was up 50.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 3,922.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,823,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,330,000 after acquiring an additional 2,753,215 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 6,338,567 shares of the company's stock worth $628,215,000 after purchasing an additional 890,990 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 3,048.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 872,453 shares of the company's stock worth $54,938,000 after purchasing an additional 844,746 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,635,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,655,485 shares of the company's stock worth $104,246,000 after purchasing an additional 816,155 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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