3,059,311 Shares in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,059,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,247,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in StoneCo in the first quarter worth about $902,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in StoneCo in the first quarter worth about $70,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in StoneCo by 37.4% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 28,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 7,635 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of StoneCo by 8.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 256,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,109,000 after acquiring an additional 19,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of StoneCo by 10.0% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StoneCo Trading Up 1.6%

StoneCo stock opened at $10.57 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.29. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.73. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52-week low of $9.45 and a 52-week high of $19.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The business had revenue of $141.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $675.11 million. StoneCo had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 23.82%. Analysts predict that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

StoneCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th were given a dividend of $2.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STNE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Zacks Research raised StoneCo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. BTIG Research cut their price target on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.58.

StoneCo Company Profile

StoneCo Ltd., commonly known as Stone, is a Brazilian financial technology company that provides integrated digital payment solutions and related financial services to merchants. Through its cloud-based platform, Stone enables businesses of all sizes to accept a variety of payment methods, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, mobile card readers and e-commerce gateways. In addition to payment acceptance, the company offers value-added services such as working capital loans, digital banking products and automated billing tools designed to help merchants manage cash flow and streamline operations.

Since its founding in 2012 by André Street and Eduardo Pontes, Stone has focused on serving over half a million merchants across Brazil’s retail, restaurant and services sectors.