BlackRock Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,367,047 Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. $PRTH

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 2,367,047 shares of Priority Technology Holdings in the second quarter, worth approximately $15.8 million and representing about 2.87% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 11.52% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment has weakened, with several firms downgrading the shares or cutting price targets. Priority Technology has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target price of $8.50.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.29 in EPS versus the $0.26 consensus and revenue of $262.26 million versus $257.81 million expected. Shares opened at $5.42, within a 52-week range of $4.44 to $8.12.

BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTH - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,367,047 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,788,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 2.87% of Priority Technology at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Priority Technology during the second quarter valued at about $226,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Priority Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at about $664,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Priority Technology during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $317,000. Militia Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Priority Technology during the 1st quarter worth approximately $99,000. Finally, FourWorld Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Priority Technology by 330.0% in the 1st quarter. FourWorld Capital Management LLC now owns 1,583,904 shares of the company's stock worth $7,476,000 after buying an additional 1,215,583 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PRTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Priority Technology from $7.50 to $6.50 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Priority Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Priority Technology in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Alliance Global Partners lowered Priority Technology from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $7.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Priority Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.50.

Priority Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PRTH opened at $5.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $446.82 million, a PE ratio of 7.86 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $6.23 and a 200 day moving average of $5.81. Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.44 and a 52-week high of $8.12.

Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $262.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.81 million. Priority Technology had a net margin of 5.61% and a negative return on equity of 104.91%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Priority Technology

Priority Technology Acquisition Corp is a special purpose acquisition company formed to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization or similar business combination with one or more businesses in the technology sector. As a blank-check company, it does not conduct any operations of its own and holds the proceeds from its initial public offering in a trust account pending the identification and completion of a business combination.

The company’s management team is focused on evaluating target businesses that offer scalable technology products or services, including software, digital platforms and related infrastructure.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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