Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) by 94.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 157,519 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,850,260 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Shift4 Payments were worth $16,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FOUR. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 492,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,666,000 after purchasing an additional 145,444 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Shift4 Payments by 26.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,330,000 after buying an additional 7,905 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 242,179 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 7,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $812,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FOUR. Benchmark lowered Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $116.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Shift4 Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shift4 Payments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.19.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

Shares of FOUR opened at $94.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $110.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.72. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.87 and a 1 year high of $127.50.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.06. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 6.89%. The firm had revenue of $405.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Shift4 Payments

In related news, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.07, for a total transaction of $147,764.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,748,585.23. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jordan Frankel sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.01, for a total value of $495,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 222,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,991,309.12. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,462 shares of company stock valued at $1,211,364 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 30.57% of the company’s stock.

About Shift4 Payments

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.