Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTH) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $5.83, but opened at $7.79. Priority Technology shares last traded at $7.7750, with a volume of 6,537,187 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Priority Technology Stock Up 33.2%

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $5.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $640.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.55.

Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Priority Technology had a negative return on equity of 104.91% and a net margin of 5.61%.The firm had revenue of $262.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.81 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Priority Technology during the second quarter worth approximately $15,788,000. FourWorld Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Priority Technology by 330.0% in the 1st quarter. FourWorld Capital Management LLC now owns 1,583,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215,583 shares in the last quarter. Norwood Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in Priority Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $3,433,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Priority Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,624,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Priority Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $584,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.52% of the company’s stock.

About Priority Technology

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: PRTH) is a payments technology company that provides commerce and payment-processing solutions to businesses, financial institutions and software providers. Its platform supports card payments, electronic payments and other transaction types, helping clients accept, manage and reconcile payments across in-person, online and business-to-business channels.

The company offers merchant acquiring and payment enablement services, including point-of-sale and e-commerce payment acceptance, payment gateway capabilities, automated clearing house (ACH) transactions, electronic invoicing and accounts-payable solutions.