Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $997,000 Position in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. $EEFT

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 61.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24,224 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Euronet Worldwide were worth $997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 334 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 0.4% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 34,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,450,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 23.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 775 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in Euronet Worldwide by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 8,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Euronet Worldwide by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Euronet Worldwide news, Director Thomas A. Mcdonnell bought 3,000 shares of Euronet Worldwide stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.87 per share, for a total transaction of $200,610.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 100,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,701,644.53. The trade was a 3.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 12.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on EEFT. Weiss Ratings raised Euronet Worldwide from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.00.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of EEFT stock opened at $74.27 on Thursday. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.50 and a 52-week high of $98.52. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $73.23 and its 200-day moving average is $71.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.11). Euronet Worldwide had a return on equity of 28.60% and a net margin of 6.63%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 9.83 EPS for the current year.

Euronet Worldwide Profile

Euronet Worldwide, Inc is a global financial technology company specializing in electronic payment services and transaction processing. Through its three primary business segments—Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Network Services, epay® Prepaid and Payment Services, and Money Transfer—Euronet provides end-to-end solutions that enable secure, efficient and convenient payments for consumers, financial institutions and retailers worldwide.

In its EFT Network Services arm, Euronet operates one of the world’s largest ATM and point-of-sale (POS) terminal networks, offering deployment, management and connectivity services.