Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Stock Price Up 10.9% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares jumped 10.9% intraday (trading as high as $47.49 and last at $48.8350) on Tuesday, with volume of ~448,742 shares—about 81% below the stock's average session volume.
• Major insider buy: Jared Isaacman purchased 159,244 shares at roughly $44.15, raising his stake to 1,321,207 shares (a 13.7% increase); insiders have bought 385,757 shares in the last 90 days and now own 25.15% of the company.
• Mixed quarterly results and outlook: Q4 EPS of $1.60 beat estimates by $0.04 while reported revenue was $610M versus a $1.20B consensus (revenue +50.6% y/y); management set FY2026 guidance of $5.50–$5.70 EPS and the sell‑side consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a $79.89 price target.

Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) shot up 10.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $47.49 and last traded at $48.8350. 448,742 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,412,613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FOUR. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $112.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Freedom Capital lowered Shift4 Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $115.00 to $101.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shift4 Payments presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.89.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $610.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 2.84% and a return on equity of 39.27%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 50.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.500-5.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman bought 159,244 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $44.15 per share, with a total value of $7,030,622.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,321,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,331,289.05. The trade was a 13.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have bought 385,757 shares of company stock valued at $17,666,153 in the last 90 days. 25.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 6,778,925 shares of the company's stock valued at $426,869,000 after buying an additional 621,797 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 6,665,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $660,612,000 after acquiring an additional 745,650 shares during the period. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 2.1% during the third quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 5,071,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $392,552,000 after purchasing an additional 105,320 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 2,643,829 shares of the company's stock worth $166,482,000 after purchasing an additional 188,594 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 25.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,056,056 shares of the company's stock worth $159,139,000 after purchasing an additional 419,132 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

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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