Cerity Partners LLC Buys 1,218 Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) by 35.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,629 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Shift4 Payments were worth $480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,539,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,668,000 after purchasing an additional 562,774 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Shift4 Payments by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,198,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,689,000 after buying an additional 350,703 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Shift4 Payments by 799.9% in the fourth quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 231,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,977,000 after buying an additional 205,361 shares in the last quarter. Maestria Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Shift4 Payments in the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,614,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Shift4 Payments by 2,954.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,501,000 after acquiring an additional 153,793 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Trading Down 2.0 %

Shift4 Payments stock opened at $75.17 on Tuesday. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.87 and a 52-week high of $127.50. The company has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.09.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $405.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 29.00%. Analysts predict that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Shift4 Payments

In other news, President David Taylor Lauber sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total transaction of $229,250.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 264,856 shares in the company, valued at $24,287,295.20. This trade represents a 0.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Nancy Disman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.98, for a total transaction of $849,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 177,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,094,317.56. This represents a 5.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,695 shares of company stock worth $1,097,380. Corporate insiders own 30.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FOUR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $140.00 to $100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $143.00 to $113.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Shift4 Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.05.

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.