Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Key Points

• Shift4 Payments' stock price increased from $82.98 to $86.90 following significant insider buying, particularly by Chairman Jared Isaacman, who purchased over 196,000 shares recently.
• Despite positive insider activity, the company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.10, falling short of analysts' expectations of $1.20.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a predominantly positive outlook, with an average price target of $114.40 and a concentration of buy ratings on the stock.

Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $82.98, but opened at $86.90. Shift4 Payments shares last traded at $87.58, with a volume of 425,625 shares.

Specifically, Chairman Jared Isaacman acquired 104,705 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $83.61 per share, with a total value of $8,754,385.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman directly owned 939,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,569,571.15. The trade was a 12.54% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jared Isaacman purchased 91,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $81.90 per share, with a total value of $7,511,949.90. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman owned 835,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,387,319. The trade was a 12.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Shift4 Payments from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $113.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Shift4 Payments presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.40.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $97.90 and a 200-day moving average of $94.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.10). Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 37.05% and a net margin of 6.11%. The firm had revenue of $413.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.84 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SRH Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 410.9% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 281 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elequin Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 297 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

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.

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