D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. cut its holdings in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,287 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.26% of Euronet Worldwide worth $11,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Euronet Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 15,240.0% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 485.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 855 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Euronet Worldwide from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Euronet Worldwide has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.57.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of EEFT opened at $110.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $101.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.49. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.24 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 firm has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.25.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13. Euronet Worldwide had a return on equity of 27.74% and a net margin of 7.69%. The business had revenue of $915.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,418,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,875,686.54. This trade represents a 6.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 11.20% of the company’s stock.

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.