Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Short Interest Up 8.0% in December

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, a growth of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 1,250,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 263,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $5,547,344.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 90,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,603.68. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total transaction of $2,224,365.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,423,437.20. This trade represents 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 90 days. Company insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 121.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the third quarter worth $100,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Euronet Worldwide by 21.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Euronet Worldwide in the third quarter valued at $109,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Euronet Worldwide by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Down 0.3 %

EEFT stock traded down $0.30 on Friday, hitting $99.52. 180,980 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 234,857. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $103.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Euronet Worldwide has a 12-month low of $91.07 and a 12-month high of $117.66. The stock has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 26.86%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Euronet Worldwide will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.