Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 757,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 392 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.73% of Euronet Worldwide worth $75,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EEFT. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 45.8% in the 3rd 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 position in Euronet Worldwide during the third quarter worth $15,258,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 13.6% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,604,000 after buying an additional 127,240 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 17.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 755,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,172,000 after buying an additional 113,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,047,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on EEFT. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lowered shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of Euronet Worldwide stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,288 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,603.68. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,290,575.73. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102. 10.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

Euronet Worldwide stock opened at $103.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.07 and a 12-month high of $117.66.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Euronet Worldwide had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 8.49%. The business had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.53 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Euronet Worldwide Company Profile

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.