Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Purchases 43,521 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 235,237 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,521 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $1,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of StoneCo by 254.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 3,056 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in StoneCo by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in StoneCo by 31.6% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ STNE opened at $10.58 on Friday. StoneCo Ltd. has a twelve month low of $7.72 and a twelve month high of $17.93. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released 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 return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 16.02%. The firm had revenue of $582.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. Analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STNE. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 target price (down previously from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on StoneCo from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.