StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Stock Price Up 7% - Should You Buy?

Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) were up 7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $9.60 and last traded at $9.49. Approximately 1,893,699 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 4,819,565 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on STNE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on StoneCo from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $9.00 price target (down previously from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $14.50.

StoneCo Stock Down 3.1 %

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 firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 2.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.82.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in StoneCo by 9.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 19,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 1.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 123,275 shares of the company's stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 19.0% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 20,258 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 3,241 shares during the last quarter. Koa Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 2.1% during the third quarter. Koa Wealth Management LLC now owns 160,709 shares of the company's stock worth $1,810,000 after buying an additional 3,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 40.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 13,350 shares of the company's stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 3,878 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company's stock.

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.