MetLife Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,837 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,102 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Euronet Worldwide were worth $2,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the 3rd quarter worth $15,258,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 755,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,172,000 after buying an additional 113,685 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Euronet Worldwide in the 2nd quarter worth about $9,047,000. New South Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. now owns 625,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $64,758,000 after acquiring an additional 87,258 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 36.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 272,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,197,000 after acquiring an additional 73,053 shares during the period. 91.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EEFT has been the subject of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Euronet Worldwide Stock Down 0.6 %

EEFT stock opened at $103.75 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $100.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.25. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.44. 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 $88.53 and a twelve month high of $117.66.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The business 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Euronet Worldwide 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.