Nuveen Asset Management LLC Buys 2,008,710 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 40.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,993,611 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,008,710 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 2.26% of StoneCo worth $55,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. boosted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. now owns 11,623,836 shares of the company's stock worth $92,642,000 after buying an additional 2,173,389 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,419,797 shares of the company's stock worth $43,120,000 after purchasing an additional 229,453 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,658 shares of the company's stock worth $24,497,000 after purchasing an additional 952,039 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,642,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 305.0% in the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,228,318 shares of the company's stock worth $17,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678,131 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on STNE shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of StoneCo from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on StoneCo from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded StoneCo from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.63.

StoneCo Stock Performance

STNE stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.28. The stock had a trading volume of 5,161,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,718,962. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.01. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52 week low of $7.72 and a 52 week high of $15.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $625.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.68 billion. StoneCo had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 16.02%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

About StoneCo

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.