Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $52.00. The stock had previously closed at $53.38, but opened at $47.45. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Shift4 Payments shares last traded at $45.4910, with a volume of 486,917 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on FOUR. Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Evercore set a $45.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman acquired 195,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.41 per share, with a total value of $8,095,655.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,594,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,026,381.55. This represents a 13.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Shift4 Payments

Here are the key news stories impacting Shift4 Payments this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Shift4 reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.32 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of approximately $1.19–$1.25. Revenue rose 50.9% year over year to roughly $1.29 billion–$1.30 billion, far above the reported consensus estimate of $615.18 million. Shift4 Payments Q2 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research reduced its price target to $60 from $70 but maintained a Buy rating, implying substantial potential upside from recent trading levels. Benzinga

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FOUR. Marex Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 3,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Glenmede Investment Management LP boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 5.1% during the third quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP now owns 4,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 4.4% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.40.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 28.40% and a net margin of 2.20%.The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 50.9% on a year-over-year basis. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.350 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shift4 Payments Company Profile

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.