HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 209 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Euronet Worldwide were worth $2,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 0.8% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 73,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,321,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the third quarter worth $109,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the third quarter worth $4,373,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 21.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 75,216 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,464,000 after purchasing an additional 13,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 82.8% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 50,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,975,000 after purchasing an additional 22,701 shares during the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Euronet Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of Euronet Worldwide stock opened at $108.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.12. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a one year low of $91.07 and a one year high of $117.66.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.82 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%. Research analysts expect 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.