Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Trims Holdings in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. trimmed its position in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 81.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 342,206 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,517,510 shares during the quarter. StoneCo accounts for approximately 1.2% of Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. owned 0.11% of StoneCo worth $2,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 254.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,256 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 3,056 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in StoneCo by 627.0% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 3,925 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in StoneCo by 166.7% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,400 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in StoneCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 7,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company's stock.

StoneCo Price Performance

StoneCo stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $13.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,793,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,709,186. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. StoneCo Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $7.72 and a fifty-two week high of $17.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.01. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $11.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.12.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $582.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. StoneCo had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.92%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STNE has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $9.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised StoneCo from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.38.

StoneCo Profile

StoneCo Ltd. provides financial technology and software solutions to merchants and integrated partners to conduct electronic commerce across in-store, online, and mobile channels in Brazil. It distributes its solutions, principally through proprietary Stone Hubs, which offer hyper-local sales and services; and sells solutions to brick-and-mortar and digital merchants through sales team.