Bridgewater Associates LP Increases Holdings in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT - Free Report) by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,132 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,701 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned 0.11% of Euronet Worldwide worth $4,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EEFT. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Euronet Worldwide in the 3rd quarter valued at $15,258,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 755,190 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $78,172,000 after purchasing an additional 113,685 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Euronet Worldwide in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,047,000. New South Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. now owns 625,677 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $64,758,000 after purchasing an additional 87,258 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 36.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 272,430 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,197,000 after purchasing an additional 73,053 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Euronet Worldwide news, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,290,575.73. The trade was a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Juan Bianchi sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.58, for a total value of $410,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,276,095.20. This represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,431 shares of company stock valued at $6,966,057 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.50% of the company's stock.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

EEFT traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $105.13. 142,675 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 300,978. The company's 50-day moving average is $100.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.54. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.46. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.51 and a 12-month high of $117.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. Euronet Worldwide had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 8.49%. The business had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EEFT has been the subject of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Euronet Worldwide from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Euronet Worldwide from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Euronet Worldwide from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup downgraded Euronet Worldwide from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Euronet Worldwide from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $127.13.

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.