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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on EEFT. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer lowered 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. 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. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $136.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Euronet Worldwide presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.25.

Euronet Worldwide Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of EEFT stock opened at $106.32 on Tuesday. Euronet Worldwide has a 12-month low of $91.07 and a 12-month high of $117.66. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $102.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm posted $2.53 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Euronet Worldwide will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Euronet Worldwide

In other Euronet Worldwide news, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total value of $2,224,365.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,423,437.20. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $5,547,344.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,288 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102 over the last ninety days. 10.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Euronet Worldwide in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in 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. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Euronet Worldwide during the 3rd quarter worth $109,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 131.8% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 53.3% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

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.