Traders Buy Large Volume of Shift4 Payments Put Options (NYSE:FOUR)

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 6,049 put options on the company. This is an increase of 199% compared to the average daily volume of 2,020 put options.

Shift4 Payments Trading Down 1.0 %

FOUR opened at $103.78 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71. Shift4 Payments has a 12 month low of $55.87 and a 12 month high of $116.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FOUR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Shift4 Payments from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $112.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Shift4 Payments from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Benchmark cut Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shift4 Payments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In other news, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total value of $568,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 210,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,884,216.95. This represents a 2.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider James J. Whalen sold 1,462 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.07, for a total transaction of $147,764.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,748,585.23. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,462 shares of company stock valued at $1,211,364 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 30.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FOUR. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 5,883,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980,940 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Shift4 Payments by 9.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,834,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,098,000 after purchasing an additional 242,179 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,314,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,800,000 after purchasing an additional 235,355 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 11,776.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,730,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,947,000 after buying an additional 1,716,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in Shift4 Payments by 0.9% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,455,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,921,000 after acquiring an additional 12,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.