Ellsworth Advisors LLC Acquires 1,111 Shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Euronet Worldwide were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 5.4% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 161,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,004,000 after acquiring an additional 8,230 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 507.8% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 14,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,544,000 after buying an additional 12,462 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the 3rd quarter valued at $15,258,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the 3rd quarter valued at $666,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 117.1% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,402,000 after acquiring an additional 27,664 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $5,547,344.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,603.68. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of Euronet Worldwide stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.31, for a total value of $1,008,392.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,290,575.73. The trade was a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102. 10.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on EEFT. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $136.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Euronet Worldwide has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.25.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

Shares of EEFT opened at $99.52 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.07 and a twelve month high of $117.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.07 and a 200-day moving average of $101.41.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal 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.