StoneCo Ltd. $STNE is Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA.’s 3rd Largest Position

Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. grew its position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 435.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,662,253 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,418,053 shares during the quarter. StoneCo comprises about 10.5% of Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA.’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $94,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in StoneCo by 11,473.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in StoneCo in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new position in StoneCo in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in StoneCo by 74.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of STNE opened at $10.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. StoneCo Ltd. has a 1 year low of $9.45 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.25.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The company had revenue of $141.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $675.11 million. StoneCo had a net margin of 23.82% and a return on equity of 21.05%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 21,000 shares in the company, valued at $237,090. This trade represents a 30.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STNE. Citigroup downgraded shares of StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America cut 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, July 15th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on StoneCo from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on StoneCo in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $12.60 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.59.

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.