Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $53.38, but opened at $47.45. Shift4 Payments shares last traded at $45.4910, with a volume of 486,917 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FOUR shares. Wolfe Research cut Shift4 Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Capital One Financial set a $50.00 price target on Shift4 Payments in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Shift4 Payments from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Shift4 Payments Stock Down 17.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 52.34, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.02). Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 2.63% and a return on equity of 33.55%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman acquired 195,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $41.41 per share, for a total transaction of $8,095,655.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,594,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,026,381.55. The trade was a 13.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marex Group plc raised its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 3,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Shift4 Payments by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 5.1% during the third quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP now owns 4,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Company Profile

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.