Cerity Partners LLC Buys Shares of 33,318 StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 33,318 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of STNE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in StoneCo by 254.7% in 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 during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company's stock.

StoneCo Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STNE traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $13.75. 5,414,695 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,697,809. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $10.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.96. The firm has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52-week low of $7.72 and a 52-week high of $17.09.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STNE has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of StoneCo from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of StoneCo from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup raised StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.38.

StoneCo Profile

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.