Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) Shares Up 6.9% – Here’s Why

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTH) shares were up 6.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $9.59 and last traded at $9.58. Approximately 506,055 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 919,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PRTH. Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on shares of Priority Technology from $8.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Priority Technology from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Priority Technology from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $14.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th.

Priority Technology Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.73 and its 200-day moving average is $7.19. The stock has a market cap of $731.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.55 and a beta of 1.17.

Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.12. Priority Technology had a net margin of 1.96% and a negative return on equity of 15.86%. The company had revenue of $227.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $221.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. will post -0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sean Kiewiet sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.11, for a total value of $29,127.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,055,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,391,857.38. The trade was a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Ranjana Ram sold 6,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.44, for a total transaction of $49,215.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 686,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,106,734.16. This trade represents a 0.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,353,646 shares of company stock valued at $40,471,373. 76.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Priority Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Priority Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $100,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Priority Technology during the third quarter worth about $91,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Priority Technology by 61.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 6,096 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Priority Technology during the third quarter worth approximately $112,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Priority Technology by 6.1% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 22,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 1,293 shares during the period. 11.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Priority Technology Company Profile

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMB) Payments, Business-To-Business (B2B) Payments, and Enterprise Payments. It offers SMB payments processing solutions for B2C transactions through independent sales organizations, financial institutions, independent software vendors, and other referral partners through its MX product suite, which includes MX Connect and MX Merchant products, such as MX Insights, MX Storefront, MX Retail, MX Invoice, MX B2B and ACH.com, and others, which provides flexible and customizable set of business applications that helps to manage critical business work functions and revenue performance to resellers and merchant clients using core payment processing.