Benchmark Downgrades Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) to Hold

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) was downgraded by analysts at Benchmark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on FOUR. William Blair assumed coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Stephens increased their target price on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Shift4 Payments from $106.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Shift4 Payments from $93.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on Shift4 Payments from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.29.

Shift4 Payments Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:FOUR opened at $103.71 on Thursday. Shift4 Payments has a 52-week low of $55.87 and a 52-week high of $116.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $97.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In other news, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total transaction of $568,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 210,045 shares in the company, valued at $23,884,216.95. This trade represents a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Nancy Disman sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.30, for a total value of $1,626,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 182,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,874,566.70. The trade was a 9.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,226,675 over the last ninety days. 30.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Senator Investment Group LP grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 8,551.1% during the second quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 562,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,240,000 after purchasing an additional 555,737 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 26.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,330,000 after purchasing an additional 7,905 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 41.9% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 492,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,666,000 after purchasing an additional 145,444 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 113.0% during the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 457,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,532,000 after purchasing an additional 242,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 9.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,834,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,098,000 after purchasing an additional 242,179 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.