Sei Investments Co. Trims Position in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Sei Investments Co. decreased its stake in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 59.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,039 shares of the company’s stock after selling 98,949 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in StoneCo by 74.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc purchased a new position in StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 73.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at StoneCo

In other news, Director Silvio Jose Morais sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total transaction of $101,610.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,090. This represents a 30.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.25% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of StoneCo stock opened at $10.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.00, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.93. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52-week low of $9.45 and a 52-week high of $19.95.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The company had revenue of $141.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $675.11 million. StoneCo had a net margin of 23.82% and a return on equity of 21.05%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STNE. BTIG Research decreased their target price on StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group cut their price target on StoneCo from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup downgraded StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $12.60 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.