Clearbridge Investments LLC Reduces Position in Shift4 Payments, Inc. $FOUR

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,025,529 shares of the company’s stock after selling 299,149 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 2.29% of Shift4 Payments worth $127,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FOUR. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew 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 buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Glenmede Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP now owns 4,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens cut shares of Shift4 Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $77.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore set a $45.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Shift4 Payments from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Shift4 Payments has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.19.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

FOUR stock opened at $38.08 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.36. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.01 and a 12-month high of $108.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 45.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.43.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 2.63% and a return on equity of 33.55%. The business’s revenue was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.500-5.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Shift4 Payments

In other Shift4 Payments news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman acquired 195,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $41.41 per share, for a total transaction of $8,095,655.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 1,594,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,026,381.55. This trade represents a 13.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have purchased a total of 432,327 shares of company stock valued at $17,948,120 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 25.15% of the company’s stock.

About Shift4 Payments

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.