Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Sells 259,031 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Key Points

• Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. cut its StoneCo stake by 74.5% in the first quarter, selling 259,031 shares and leaving it with 88,534 shares worth about $1.25 million.
• StoneCo’s stock opened at $10.76, near its 52-week low of $9.45 and well below its 52-week high of $19.95, with the company valued at about $2.68 billion.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: the stock carries an average Hold rating and a $14.59 average target price, while recent target cuts came from firms including UBS, JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America.

Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. reduced its stake in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 74.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,534 shares of the company's stock after selling 259,031 shares during the quarter. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.'s holdings in StoneCo were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of StoneCo by 11,473.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,721 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of StoneCo in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc bought a new position in StoneCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company's stock.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of StoneCo stock opened at $10.76 on Friday. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52 week low of $9.45 and a 52 week high of $19.95. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.30. The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 4.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.73.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42. StoneCo had a net margin of 23.82% and a return on equity of 21.05%. The firm had revenue of $141.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $675.11 million. Equities analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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 owned 21,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $237,090. This represents a 30.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STNE. UBS Group reduced their price target on StoneCo from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Thursday. They issued a "hold" rating and a $12.60 price target for the company. Citigroup downgraded shares of StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $18.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.59.

About StoneCo

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.

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