Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 9,494 Shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 40.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,960 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,494 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Euronet Worldwide were worth $3,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Euronet Worldwide by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,674 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,540,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $768,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Euronet Worldwide by 21.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,394,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

EEFT stock opened at $108.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.11. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.07 and a 1 year high of $117.66. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.37. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Brown sold 95,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.69, for a total value of $9,565,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,418,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,875,686.54. This trade represents a 6.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 10.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.