Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Stake in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in StoneCo Ltd. by 45.0%, owning 164,492 shares after selling 134,442 shares during the first quarter.
• In contrast, several other institutional investors, including Point72 Asset Management, increased their holdings significantly, with Point72 raising its position by 22.2%.
• StoneCo recently reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, exceeding estimates, and has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $15.07.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 45.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 164,492 shares of the company's stock after selling 134,442 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.06% of StoneCo worth $1,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of StoneCo by 1,486.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,720 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of StoneCo by 327.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of StoneCo by 143.0% during the 1st 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 period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of StoneCo by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of StoneCo by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the period. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

StoneCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:STNE traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.47. The stock had a trading volume of 3,496,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,082,378. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. StoneCo Ltd. has a one year low of $7.72 and a one year high of $16.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.88.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Research analysts forecast that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Santander raised shares of StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $15.50 to $18.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of StoneCo to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $15.36.

StoneCo Company Profile

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.