Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Position in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 67.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,413 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Euronet Worldwide were worth $1,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 121.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 954 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 989 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 21.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the third quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total value of $2,224,365.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 10.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on EEFT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Euronet Worldwide currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.00.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Up 1.5 %

EEFT stock opened at $102.46 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.07 and a twelve month high of $117.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is $100.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.34. The stock has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.43.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.23). Euronet Worldwide had a return on equity of 27.74% and a net margin of 7.69%. Research analysts expect that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Euronet Worldwide 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.