Leuthold Group LLC Acquires New Stake in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,184 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EEFT. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 11,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Euronet Worldwide during the fourth quarter worth about $354,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 92.3% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 6,104 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 20,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,394,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Performance

EEFT stock opened at $101.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.43. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.07 and a 12-month high of $117.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.21.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts forecast that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on EEFT. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Euronet Worldwide currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.00.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,290,575.73. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,370 shares in the company, valued at $5,423,437.20. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102 in the last ninety days. 10.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.