Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 2,572,681 Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. $FOUR

Wasatch Advisors LP lowered its holdings in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) by 38.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,206,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,572,681 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 0.05% of Shift4 Payments worth $183,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FOUR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 1st quarter valued at about $857,000. OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments in the first quarter worth approximately $385,000. Mariner Investment Group LLC grew its position in Shift4 Payments by 177.8% during the fourth quarter. Mariner Investment Group LLC now owns 125,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,871,000 after buying an additional 80,000 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 3,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,626,000. 98.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shift4 Payments Trading Up 8.8%

Shares of FOUR stock opened at $47.62 on Friday. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.56 and a 52-week high of $108.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 56.69, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.41.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. Shift4 Payments’s 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, analysts predict that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Shift4 Payments news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman bought 193,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $40.66 per share, with a total value of $7,847,380.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,787,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,677,920.30. This trade represents a 12.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on FOUR. Evercore set a $45.00 target price on Shift4 Payments in a report on Monday, May 18th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Shift4 Payments from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.29.

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.