StoneCo Ltd. $STNE Shares Acquired by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management raised its stake in StoneCo by 131.5% in Q4, acquiring 124,734 additional shares to hold 219,614 shares (about 0.08% of the company) valued at $3.25 million.
• StoneCo declared a special dividend of $2.53 per share, with record and ex-dividend dates on April 24 and payment scheduled for May 4.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" on STNE with an average price target of $20.00 (five Buy, four Hold ratings).

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 131.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,614 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 124,734 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.08% of StoneCo worth $3,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in StoneCo in the 1st quarter valued at about $902,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 1st quarter worth approximately $70,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of StoneCo by 37.4% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 28,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 7,635 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of StoneCo by 8.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 256,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,109,000 after purchasing an additional 19,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 10.0% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during 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 equities analysts recently commented on STNE shares. Santander downgraded StoneCo from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on StoneCo from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded StoneCo from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.00.

StoneCo Price Performance

STNE stock opened at $11.09 on Monday. StoneCo Ltd. has a one year low of $10.80 and a one year high of $19.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 7.25, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.73. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $14.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. StoneCo had a return on equity of 21.55% and a net margin of 15.38%.The company had revenue of $675.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $704.26 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

StoneCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $2.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 24th.

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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