SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda Raises Holdings in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda grew its stake in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 47.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,728,014 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,491,394 shares during the period. StoneCo comprises approximately 9.1% of SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $109,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STNE. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in StoneCo during the first quarter valued at $902,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in StoneCo in the 1st quarter worth about $70,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in StoneCo by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 28,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 7,635 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 8.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 256,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,109,000 after buying an additional 19,723 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 10.0% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STNE opened at $11.15 on Friday. StoneCo Ltd. has a 1 year low of $9.45 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 4.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.43.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. StoneCo had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 23.82%.The company had revenue of $141.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $675.11 million. On average, research analysts predict that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STNE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research dropped their price target on StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup downgraded StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $18.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America downgraded StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at StoneCo

In related news, Director Silvio Jose Morais sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $101,610.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,090. This trade represents a 30.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

StoneCo Profile

StoneCo Ltd., commonly known as Stone, is a Brazilian financial technology company that provides integrated digital payment solutions and related financial services to merchants. Through its cloud-based platform, Stone enables businesses of all sizes to accept a variety of payment methods, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, mobile card readers and e-commerce gateways. In addition to payment acceptance, the company offers value-added services such as working capital loans, digital banking products and automated billing tools designed to help merchants manage cash flow and streamline operations.

Since its founding in 2012 by André Street and Eduardo Pontes, Stone has focused on serving over half a million merchants across Brazil’s retail, restaurant and services sectors.