Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,250,000 shares, an increase of 27.1% from the April 30th total of 9,640,000 shares. Approximately 19.6% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In other Shift4 Payments news, CFO Nancy Disman sold 10,000 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.98, for a total value of $849,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 177,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,094,317.56. The trade was a 5.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 25.15% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FOUR. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments in the fourth quarter valued at about $344,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 12,489 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Shift4 Payments by 67.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 425 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shift4 Payments Stock Up 0.2%

FOUR traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.41. 1,103,712 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,685,588. The stock has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.80. Shift4 Payments has a twelve month low of $57.45 and a twelve month high of $127.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $84.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.31. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business had revenue of $368.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $886.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Shift4 Payments will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FOUR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $125.00 to $95.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $117.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.35.

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.