Advisory Services Network LLC Buys 5,330 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its stake in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 90.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,210 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,330 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $89,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of STNE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in StoneCo by 254.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 3,056 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of StoneCo by 166.7% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in StoneCo by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new position in StoneCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Stock Performance

StoneCo stock opened at $12.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. StoneCo Ltd. has a 1 year low of $7.72 and a 1 year high of $17.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $10.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.89.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.07. StoneCo had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The business had revenue of $582.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STNE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective (down previously from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on StoneCo from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of StoneCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, StoneCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.50.

About StoneCo

StoneCo Ltd. provides financial technology and software solutions to merchants and integrated partners to conduct electronic commerce across in-store, online, and mobile channels in Brazil. It distributes its solutions, principally through proprietary Stone Hubs, which offer hyper-local sales and services; and sells solutions to brick-and-mortar and digital merchants through sales team.