New York State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stake in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 23,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Euronet Worldwide were worth $2,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EEFT. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 45.8% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,102,000 after purchasing an additional 224,982 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Euronet Worldwide during the 3rd quarter worth about $15,258,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,604,000 after purchasing an additional 127,240 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Euronet Worldwide during the third quarter worth $4,373,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the 3rd quarter worth $4,085,000. 91.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EEFT shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Euronet Worldwide presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.00.

Insider Activity at Euronet Worldwide

In other news, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $9,625,603.68. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.31, for a total value of $1,008,392.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 three months, insiders have sold 82,910 shares of company stock worth $8,780,102. Insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ EEFT opened at $101.39 on Friday. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.07 and a 12-month high of $117.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $101.04 and a 200 day moving average of $101.21.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last announced 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 net margin of 7.69% and a return on equity of 27.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 9.11 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.