Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday.

EEFT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup cut Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Euronet Worldwide has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.14.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EEFT opened at $103.91 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $91.07 and a one year high of $117.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Euronet Worldwide news, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.31, for a total transaction of $1,008,392.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $5,547,344.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 82,910 shares of company stock worth $8,780,102. 10.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Euronet Worldwide

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 161,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,004,000 after buying an additional 8,230 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Euronet Worldwide during the third quarter worth about $15,258,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,632 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the third quarter valued at approximately $666,000. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 627,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $64,496,000 after purchasing an additional 20,824 shares in the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.