Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR – Get Rating) was downgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Shift4 Payments from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 22nd. DA Davidson started coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Wednesday, March 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Citigroup started coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Thursday, April 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group started coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares started coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Monday, April 4th. They issued a “positive” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.75.

Shares of NYSE FOUR opened at $60.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 7.89, a current ratio of 7.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.35. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of -65.42 and a beta of 1.89. Shift4 Payments has a 1-year low of $38.88 and a 1-year high of $103.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $55.50.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 1st. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.10). Shift4 Payments had a negative net margin of 3.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.44%. The business had revenue of $399.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.29) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 89.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Shift4 Payments will post 0.57 EPS for the current year.

In related news, CEO Jared Isaacman bought 35,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $48.38 per share, with a total value of $1,739,648.04. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 38.03% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC grew its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 94.2% in the third quarter. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC now owns 1,295,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,462,000 after purchasing an additional 628,609 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 139,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,067,000 after purchasing an additional 7,273 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 220,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,760,000 after purchasing an additional 106,227 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 25.6% in the third quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 8.8% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. 72.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Shift4 Payments (Get Rating)

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.

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