StoneCo Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:STNE)

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders bought 7,893 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 271% compared to the average volume of 2,126 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on StoneCo in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $12.60 price objective for the company. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of StoneCo from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other StoneCo news, Director Silvio Morais sold 21,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.91, for a total transaction of $208,110.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in StoneCo during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in StoneCo by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc bought a new position in StoneCo in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 77.4% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

StoneCo Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ STNE opened at $10.10 on Friday. StoneCo has a 52 week low of $9.08 and a 52 week high of $19.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.75.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $129.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.24 million. StoneCo had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 22.92%. Research analysts anticipate that StoneCo will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About StoneCo

StoneCo Ltd. is a financial technology company serving businesses and consumers in Brazil. Through its Stone and Ton brands, the company provides electronic payment processing and point-of-sale solutions, including card acceptance, digital payments, payment links and related tools for merchants of varying sizes.

StoneCo also offers financial services designed to support small and medium-sized businesses, such as digital banking, working-capital products and other business management tools.