Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) Shares Down 5% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Priority Technology Holdings shares declined 5% to $7.27, significantly underperforming with 200,463 shares traded, a 65% drop from its average volume.
• Analysts have diverse opinions; Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target from $12 to $10, while Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock to a "buy," indicating a consensus price target of $13.00.
• The company reported $0.26 EPS for the last quarter, slightly exceeding expectations, and has a P/E ratio of 27.08 with a market cap of $562.64 million.

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTH - Get Free Report) fell 5% on Monday . The company traded as low as $7.50 and last traded at $7.27. 200,463 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 580,975 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Priority Technology from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Priority Technology in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Priority Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.00.

Priority Technology Stock Down 8.0%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.08. The company has a market cap of $562.64 million, a P/E ratio of 27.08 and a beta of 1.51.

Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $239.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $239.63 million. Priority Technology had a net margin of 4.03% and a negative return on equity of 47.35%. On average, equities analysts predict that Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. will post -0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Bradley J. Miller sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.55, for a total transaction of $855,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 243,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,082,951. This represents a 29.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marietta Davis sold 9,433 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.22, for a total transaction of $68,106.26. Following the sale, the director owned 75,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $542,481.92. This represents a 11.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Priority Technology during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Priority Technology in the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Priority Technology by 13,386.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,092 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 8,032 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in shares of Priority Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in shares of Priority Technology during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 11.52% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.