Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTH) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 165,775 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 216,467 shares.The stock last traded at $6.92 and had previously closed at $7.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $12.00 price target (down previously from $14.00) on shares of Priority Technology in a research report on Friday. B. Riley lifted their target price on Priority Technology from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Lake Street Capital increased their target price on shares of Priority Technology from $8.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Priority Technology Stock Down 9.8 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $533.44 million, a PE ratio of -16.48 and a beta of 0.99.

Insider Buying and Selling at Priority Technology

In related news, insider Sean Kiewiet sold 170,596 shares of Priority Technology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.60, for a total value of $1,808,317.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 711,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,545,641.80. This trade represents a 19.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas Charles Priore sold 294,167 shares of Priority Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.44, for a total value of $2,188,602.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,025,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $253,148,373.36. The trade was a 0.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,293,227 shares of company stock valued at $39,921,204 in the last three months. 76.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Priority Technology

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Priority Technology by 6.1% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 22,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Priority Technology by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 23,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Priority Technology by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in Priority Technology by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 3,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Priority Technology by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 39,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 4,366 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.