Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $81.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Stephens cut Shift4 Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 17th. Freedom Capital cut Shift4 Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore set a $45.00 price objective on Shift4 Payments in a report on Monday, May 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.19.

Shift4 Payments Trading Down 4.5%

NYSE:FOUR opened at $43.16 on Monday. Shift4 Payments has a 1-year low of $39.61 and a 1-year high of $108.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $44.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.38, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.43.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.500-5.700 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Shift4 Payments will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In related news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman purchased 195,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $41.41 per share, with a total value of $8,095,655.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,594,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,026,381.55. This trade represents a 13.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 432,327 shares of company stock worth $17,948,120. 25.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FOUR. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,303,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 6,338,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,215,000 after purchasing an additional 890,990 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 3,048.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 872,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,938,000 after acquiring an additional 844,746 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,635,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,655,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,246,000 after acquiring an additional 816,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.