Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 886 Shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 68,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Euronet Worldwide were worth $7,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Euronet Worldwide by 121.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 954 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Euronet Worldwide during the third quarter worth about $100,000. Quarry LP grew its position in Euronet Worldwide by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Euronet Worldwide in the 3rd quarter valued at about $109,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 131.8% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Performance

Euronet Worldwide stock opened at $99.90 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.07 and a 1-year high of $117.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,290,575.73. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total transaction of $2,224,365.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,423,437.20. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Four investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.25.

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.