StoneCo Ltd. $STNE Stake Lowered by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 11.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 431,288 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.17% of StoneCo worth $6,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of STNE. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in StoneCo by 11,473.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in StoneCo in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 74.1% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on STNE. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $12.60 price target for the company. BTIG Research cut their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of StoneCo from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. 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 report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.59.

StoneCo Stock Performance

STNE opened at $11.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 4.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $10.99 and a 200-day moving average of $13.23. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52-week low of $9.45 and a 52-week 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.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Silvio Jose Morais sold 9,000 shares of StoneCo stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $237,090. This trade represents a 30.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

StoneCo Company 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.