Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 230,931 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,518 shares of the company's stock after selling 230,931 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in StoneCo were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in StoneCo during the first quarter worth $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 90.2% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 4,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new position in shares of StoneCo in the third quarter valued at about $125,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 2nd quarter worth about $135,000. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StoneCo Price Performance

STNE stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.70. The company had a trading volume of 6,646,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,205,208. StoneCo Ltd. has a 1-year low of $9.06 and a 1-year high of $19.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 2.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on STNE. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded StoneCo to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on StoneCo from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $7.00 target price (down previously from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $16.89.

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.