First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Stock Position in Nu Holdings Ltd. $NU

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Nu Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NU) by 62.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,285,330 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,125,247 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in NU were worth $18,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in NU by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 257,256,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,306,481,000 after acquiring an additional 5,797,365 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of NU by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,350,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,031,411,000 after acquiring an additional 3,419,077 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of NU by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 91,478,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,464,569,000 after acquiring an additional 239,660 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NU in the fourth quarter valued at $763,792,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of NU by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,602,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,160,000 after purchasing an additional 4,215,824 shares in the last quarter. 84.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anita M. Sands sold 21,000 shares of NU stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.24, for a total transaction of $257,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 162,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,984,716. This trade represents a 11.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NU. Weiss Ratings lowered NU from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Susquehanna lowered NU from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NU from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on NU from $18.10 to $16.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of NU in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.24.

NU Trading Down 4.5%

NU stock opened at $14.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. Nu Holdings Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $11.20 and a fifty-two week high of $18.98. The stock has a market cap of $68.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.60.

NU (NYSE:NU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 15th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. NU had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 30.91%. Equities research analysts forecast that Nu Holdings Ltd. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NU announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, June 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

NU Company Profile

Nu Holdings Ltd (NYSE: NU), commonly known by its consumer brand Nubank, is a Latin American financial technology company that provides digital banking and financial services through a mobile-first platform. The company’s core offerings include no-fee digital checking accounts, credit cards, personal loans, payments and transfers, and a range of savings and investment products. Nubank emphasizes a streamlined customer experience delivered via its smartphone app, combined with data-driven underwriting and automated customer service tools.

Founded in 2013 by David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible, Nu grew rapidly by targeting underbanked and digitally savvy consumers in Latin America with low-fee, transparent products.