The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Stock Price

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs cut StoneCo’s price target from $11.00 to $9.50 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying about 21.6% upside from the stock’s $7.82 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: StoneCo has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $12.94, with three Buy ratings and seven Holds.
• StoneCo shares fell 2.3% and are trading near their 52-week low; institutional investors own 73.19% of the company, while an insider recently sold 21,000 shares.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $11.00 to $9.50 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 21.56% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $12.60 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded StoneCo from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, StoneCo has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.94.

StoneCo Stock Down 2.3%

NASDAQ:STNE traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $7.82. 4,658,934 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,637,482. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 3.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. StoneCo has a fifty-two week low of $7.06 and a fifty-two week high of $19.45.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $129.73 million for 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that StoneCo will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at StoneCo

In other news, Director Silvio Morais sold 21,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.91, for a total transaction of $208,110.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in StoneCo by 74.1% during the 4th 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. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 6,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of StoneCo by 54.4% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,032 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in StoneCo by 77.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in StoneCo by 3.4% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 43,097 shares of the company's stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company's stock.

StoneCo Company Profile

StoneCo Ltd. is a financial technology company that provides payment processing and business-management solutions primarily to small and medium-sized businesses in Brazil. Through its Stone brand, the company enables merchants to accept payments in physical stores and online, including card, digital-wallet and other electronic transactions.

Its products and services include point-of-sale terminals, payment gateways, transaction processing, digital banking and financial-account services, as well as working-capital and other credit solutions for eligible merchants.

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