Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Upgraded by Benchmark to Strong-Buy Rating

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Benchmark from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on FOUR. Susquehanna increased their target price on Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $142.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $154.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.38.

Shift4 Payments Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Shift4 Payments stock opened at $81.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 2.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.35. Shift4 Payments has a 1 year low of $56.10 and a 1 year high of $127.50. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.80.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $368.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $886.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Shift4 Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Shift4 Payments will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Nancy Disman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 177,622 shares in the company, valued at $15,094,317.56. This trade represents a 5.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $229,250.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 264,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders have sold 12,695 shares of company stock valued at $1,097,380. 30.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Shift4 Payments by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 41.7% during the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 31.4% during the first quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.