Nuveen LLC Takes Position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in StoneCo Ltd., purchasing 6,727,335 shares valued at approximately $70.5 million, making up about 2.35% of the company.
• Several hedge funds have significantly increased their positions in StoneCo, with institutional investors now holding 73.19% of the stock.
• Analysts have varied price targets for StoneCo, with JPMorgan Chase raising its target to $18.50, reflecting a positive outlook for the company's future performance.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,727,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $70,502,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 2.35% of StoneCo at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 143.0% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,614 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,715 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the first quarter valued at about $597,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of StoneCo by 1,486.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $132,000. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the first quarter valued at about $13,640,000. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on STNE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of StoneCo from $15.50 to $18.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Santander upgraded shares of StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of StoneCo from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $9.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.07.

StoneCo Trading Up 3.4%

NASDAQ:STNE opened at $15.70 on Thursday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $14.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.43. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52 week low of $7.72 and a 52 week high of $16.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.43, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.88.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. StoneCo had a negative net margin of 8.37% and a positive return on equity of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $643.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.78 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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