Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT - Get Free Report) saw 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. Approximately 4.1% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 333,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Insider Activity

In other Euronet Worldwide news, CEO Michael J. Brown sold 95,000 shares of the business'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 owns 1,418,966 shares in the company, valued at $142,875,686.54. The trade was a 6.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 10.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Euronet Worldwide

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EEFT. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 0.6% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,674 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,540,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Euronet Worldwide by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,790 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,469 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 4,656 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 2,228 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

EEFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $127.00.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

Euronet Worldwide stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $108.01. 790,019 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 314,444. Euronet Worldwide has a 1-year low of $91.07 and a 1-year high of $117.66. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $100.72 and a 200 day moving average of $101.10.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Euronet Worldwide will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current 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.