Benjamin Edwards Inc. Takes $457,000 Position in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 0.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 18,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 1.1% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,260,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 6.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 3.6% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 14.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EEFT. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.13.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

EEFT opened at $103.39 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $89.30 and a fifty-two week high of $117.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $101.03 and a 200 day moving average of $103.01.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.53 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Euronet Worldwide news, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.31, for a total transaction of $1,008,392.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,290,575.73. The trade was a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

About Euronet Worldwide

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.