Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Short Interest Update

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, a growth of 16.6% from the February 13th total of 1,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 333,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on EEFT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Brown sold 95,000 shares of Euronet Worldwide 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,418,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,875,686.54. This trade represents a 6.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 10.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Euronet Worldwide

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Euronet Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings 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 valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 15,240.0% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 485.6% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 855 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of EEFT opened at $107.81 on Thursday. 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 capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.07. Euronet Worldwide has a 12 month low of $91.07 and a 12 month high of $117.66.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.69% and a return on equity of 27.74%. As a group, analysts predict that Euronet Worldwide will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

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.