First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 70,719 Shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT - Free Report) by 59.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 190,612 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 70,719 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.43% of Euronet Worldwide worth $19,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EEFT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Euronet Worldwide by 40.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 15,240.0% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 767 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Euronet Worldwide by 485.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 855 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EEFT. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Euronet Worldwide from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Euronet Worldwide from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Euronet Worldwide presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $125.57.

Insider Transactions at Euronet Worldwide

In other 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Euronet Worldwide Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ:EEFT traded up $3.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $101.97. The company had a trading volume of 72,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,909. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.25. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.24 and a fifty-two week high of $117.66. The firm has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.18. The business's fifty day moving average is $100.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.06.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13. The business had revenue of $915.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.93 million. Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 7.69% and a return on equity of 27.74%. Euronet Worldwide's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 9.11 earnings per share 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.