Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Short Interest Down 15.2% in March

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,510,000 shares, a drop of 15.2% from the March 15th total of 1,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 429,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 3.7% of the company's shares are sold short.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Performance

EEFT traded down $2.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $96.79. 740,520 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 349,357. The stock has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Euronet Worldwide has a 12 month low of $85.24 and a 12 month high of $117.66.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.23). Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 7.69% and a return on equity of 27.74%. Analysts anticipate that Euronet Worldwide will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Thursday. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Euronet Worldwide from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Euronet Worldwide from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $125.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael J. Brown sold 95,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.69, for a total transaction of $9,565,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,418,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $142,875,686.54. This represents a 6.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Euronet Worldwide

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EEFT. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Euronet Worldwide by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,014 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,632 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 627,149 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $64,496,000 after buying an additional 20,824 shares in the last quarter. Value Holdings Management CO. LLC increased its position in Euronet Worldwide by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Value Holdings Management CO. LLC now owns 57,823 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,947,000 after acquiring an additional 31,518 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Euronet Worldwide by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,883 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,662,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.60% 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.