Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $118.00 to $110.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.25.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Euronet Worldwide stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $99.52. 180,980 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 234,857. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Euronet Worldwide has a 52 week low of $91.07 and a 52 week high of $117.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.38. The company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Euronet Worldwide had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 8.49%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Euronet Worldwide will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Euronet Worldwide

In other news, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.31, for a total transaction of $1,008,392.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,290,575.73. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $5,547,344.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,603.68. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,910 shares of company stock worth $8,780,102 over the last three months. Company insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Euronet Worldwide

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 45.8% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,102,000 after acquiring an additional 224,982 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Euronet Worldwide in the third quarter worth about $15,258,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Euronet Worldwide by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,604,000 after purchasing an additional 127,240 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 755,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,172,000 after purchasing an additional 113,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,047,000. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Euronet Worldwide

Euronet Worldwide, Inc provides payment and transaction processing and distribution solutions to financial institutions, retailers, service providers, and individual consumers worldwide. It operates through three segments: Electronic Fund Transfer Processing, epay, and Money Transfer. The Electronic Fund Transfer Processing segment provides electronic payment solutions, including automated teller machine (ATM) cash withdrawal and deposit services, ATM network participation, outsourced ATM and point-of-sale (POS) management solutions, credit and debit and prepaid card outsourcing, card issuing, and merchant acquiring services.