Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $127.00.

EEFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Activity at Euronet Worldwide

In other Euronet Worldwide news, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total transaction of $2,224,365.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,370 shares in the company, valued at $5,423,437.20. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Euronet Worldwide

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EEFT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Euronet Worldwide during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 713 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 15,240.0% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 485.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 855 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Euronet Worldwide Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of EEFT opened at $99.73 on Friday. Euronet Worldwide has a 12-month low of $91.07 and a 12-month high of $117.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.23). Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 7.69% and a return on equity of 27.74%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Euronet Worldwide will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

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.