NU (NYSE:NU) Given "Buy" Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham reaffirmed a “Buy” rating on NU with a $19 price target, implying approximately 40% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with eight Buy, five Hold, and one Sell rating; MarketBeat’s consensus is “Moderate Buy” with an $18.02 target.
• NU shares opened at $13.57, while the company reported $0.22 in quarterly EPS, $5.88 billion in revenue, and an 18.65% net margin; insiders sold about $5.6 million of stock over the past 90 days.

NU (NYSE:NU - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $19.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 40.04% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on NU. Itau BBA Securities lowered shares of NU from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $19.00 price objective on shares of NU in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of NU from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NU from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of NU to a "sector perform" rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.02.

NU Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE NU opened at $13.57 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. NU has a 12 month low of $11.20 and a 12 month high of $18.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.89.

NU (NYSE:NU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter. NU had a net margin of 18.65% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The business had revenue of $5.88 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that NU will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

NU announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, June 4th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at NU

In related news, CEO Cristina Junqueira sold 65,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.71, for a total transaction of $956,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,542,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,394,040.93. This represents a 2.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Henrique Camossa Sald Fragelli sold 221,707 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.81, for a total transaction of $3,505,187.67. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 979,446 shares in the company, valued at $15,485,041.26. This trade represents a 18.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 361,707 shares of company stock worth $5,626,338 over the last ninety days.

Institutional Trading of NU

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in NU by 68.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in NU by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the last quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in NU during the 4th quarter valued at about $74,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in NU by 1,584.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NU during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. 84.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NU Company Profile

Nu Holdings Ltd., operating under the Nubank brand, is a digital financial services company that provides banking, payments and credit products through mobile applications. Its offerings include digital bank accounts, credit cards, personal loans, payment services, investment products and insurance, serving consumers and small businesses.

Founded in Brazil in 2013 by David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible, Nubank was established to simplify financial services and expand access to banking through technology.