Empowered Funds LLC Buys Shares of 7,581 Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 7,581 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $780,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 121.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 954 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 989 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 21.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,087 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the third quarter valued at approximately $109,000. 91.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.31, for a total transaction of $1,008,392.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,290,575.73. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total value of $2,224,365.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,423,437.20. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,910 shares of company stock worth $8,780,102 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EEFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Euronet Worldwide from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered Euronet Worldwide from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Euronet Worldwide has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $127.00.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

EEFT traded down $4.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $101.39. The stock had a trading volume of 489,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 325,051. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.07 and a 1-year high of $117.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $101.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.15.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 9.05 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.