Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs has reissued a "buy" rating on Shift4 Payments (NYSE: FOUR) with a target price of $104.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.36% from its current trading price.
• Shift4 Payments' stock recently traded down 2.5% to $84.30, and the company reported earnings of $1.10 per share, missing estimates, while its revenue rose 28.9% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors hold a large portion of Shift4 Payments' stock, with 98.87% owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors, showing strong interest in the company's potential.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $104.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 27.08% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $154.00 to $127.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI started coverage on Shift4 Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Shift4 Payments from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.40.

Shift4 Payments Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:FOUR traded down $1.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $81.84. 359,713 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,823,593. Shift4 Payments has a 1 year low of $68.09 and a 1 year high of $127.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30 and a beta of 1.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $98.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

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 net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 37.05%. The firm had revenue of $413.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $967.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Shift4 Payments's quarterly revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Shift4 Payments will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In other news, Director Sarah Goldsmith-Grover sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.53, for a total value of $94,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,517.22. This trade represents a 11.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Karen Roter Davis sold 2,757 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.53, for a total transaction of $260,619.21. Following the sale, the director owned 6,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $623,141.76. This represents a 29.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,757 shares of company stock worth $1,258,449. 25.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. SRH Advisors LLC bought a new position in Shift4 Payments during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Shift4 Payments in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 410.9% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 281 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elequin Capital LP raised its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 297 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Shift4 Payments

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.