StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Trading 3.2% Higher - Time to Buy?

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 3.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $11.15 and last traded at $11.07. Approximately 1,056,812 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 5,552,015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STNE has been the subject 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 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. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $9.00 price objective (down previously from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $14.50.

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StoneCo Stock Down 1.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company's 50 day moving average price is $9.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.05.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $3.59 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in StoneCo by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 13,956,554 shares of the company's stock worth $111,234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,534,079 shares during the period. Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. grew its stake in shares of StoneCo by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. now owns 13,951,183 shares of the company's stock worth $111,191,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446,709 shares during the period. Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. now owns 11,623,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,173,389 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,972,037 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692,558 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,993,611 shares of the company's stock worth $55,739,000 after buying an additional 2,008,710 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.