Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. Buys 5,418,053 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. grew its stake in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 435.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,662,253 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,418,053 shares during the quarter. StoneCo accounts for approximately 10.5% of Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. owned approximately 2.68% of StoneCo worth $94,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STNE. BRC Global BAH Investments Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $84,501,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda lifted its stake in StoneCo by 1,054.8% in the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 5,236,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,450,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783,158 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in StoneCo in the third quarter worth approximately $58,017,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,247,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in StoneCo by 1,004.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,934,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,759,782 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of StoneCo stock opened at $10.89 on Tuesday. 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 Ltd. has a 52 week low of $9.45 and a 52 week high of $19.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.73.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. StoneCo had a net margin of 23.82% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The business had revenue of $141.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $675.11 million. Research analysts forecast that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Silvio Jose Morais sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $101,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $237,090. The trade was a 30.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America lowered StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings cut StoneCo from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.59.

StoneCo 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.