Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

FOUR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Shift4 Payments from $143.00 to $113.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.38.

Shift4 Payments Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of FOUR traded up $0.40 on Wednesday, reaching $82.13. 3,125,964 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,686,756. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.29. Shift4 Payments has a 12 month low of $56.10 and a 12 month high of $127.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Shift4 Payments news, CFO Nancy Disman sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.98, for a total value of $849,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 177,622 shares in the company, valued at $15,094,317.56. This represents a 5.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President David Taylor Lauber sold 2,500 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total value of $229,250.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 264,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,287,295.20. This represents a 0.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,695 shares of company stock valued at $1,097,380. 30.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Shift4 Payments by 153.9% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 259 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. bought a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.