California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stake in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Key Points

• CalPERS cut its StoneCo stake by 23% in the first quarter, selling 113,854 shares and retaining 381,493 shares valued at approximately $5.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 73.19% of STNE.
• StoneCo reported quarterly earnings of $0.42 per share, in line with analyst estimates, while generating $141.16 million in revenue. The company posted a 23.82% net margin and 21.05% return on equity.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: price targets were reduced by UBS, BTIG, and JPMorgan, while the consensus rating is “Hold” with an average target of $14.59 versus the stock’s $10.76 opening price.

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 381,493 shares of the company's stock after selling 113,854 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.15% of StoneCo worth $5,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STNE. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 22.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 3,340 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in StoneCo by 286.6% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 163,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,298,000 after acquiring an additional 120,883 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in StoneCo during the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in StoneCo by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 499,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,052,000 after purchasing an additional 18,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRC Global BAH Investments Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. BRC Global BAH Investments Ltd. now owns 7,580,409 shares of the company's stock worth $107,035,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,018 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of STNE stock opened at $10.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.30, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.73. StoneCo Ltd. has a 1 year low of $9.45 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.28.

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

Insider Activity at StoneCo

In other news, Director Silvio Jose Morais sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $101,610.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $237,090. This trade represents a 30.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on StoneCo from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of StoneCo from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday. They set a "hold" rating and a $12.60 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StoneCo has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.59.

StoneCo Profile

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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