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

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.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Evercore set a $45.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Monday, May 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Friday. DA Davidson cut their target price on Shift4 Payments from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Shift4 Payments from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Shift4 Payments news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman acquired 193,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $40.66 per share, for a total transaction of $7,847,380.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 1,787,455 shares in the company, valued at $72,677,920.30. This trade represents a 12.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines 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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FOUR. Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new position in Shift4 Payments during the second quarter valued at $232,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments in the second quarter worth $34,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 6.0% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Spyglass Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 3.1% during the first quarter. Spyglass Capital Management LLC now owns 1,751,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,577,000 after acquiring an additional 53,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 23.4% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,069,000 after acquiring an additional 13,316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Shift4 Payments Trading Down 5.1%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $615.18 million. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 2.20% and a return on equity of 28.40%. Shift4 Payments’s revenue was up 50.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.