Investors Purchase High Volume of Shift4 Payments Put Options (NYSE:FOUR)

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 3,136 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 61% compared to the average daily volume of 1,943 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley upped their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $118.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In other news, insider Jordan Frankel sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total transaction of $1,032,125.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 228,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,827,693.97. This trade represents a 5.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Nancy Disman sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 182,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,874,566.70. This represents a 9.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,226,675. Corporate insiders own 30.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 50.8% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 5,883,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,940 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 11,776.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,730,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,947,000 after buying an additional 1,716,132 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 6,185.0% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,095,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,358,000 after buying an additional 1,078,115 shares during the period. Senator Investment Group LP raised 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 worth $41,240,000 after acquiring an additional 555,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 113.0% in the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 457,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,532,000 after acquiring an additional 242,684 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

FOUR opened at $101.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a current ratio of 2.98. Shift4 Payments has a 52-week low of $55.87 and a 52-week high of $116.84. The firm has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.70. The business’s fifty day moving average is $97.88 and its 200-day moving average is $82.08.

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.