Trexquant Investment LP Sells 451,320 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has reduced its stake in StoneCo Ltd. by 58.2%, selling 451,320 shares and now holding 323,810 shares valued at approximately $3.39 million.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and CWM LLC, increased their holdings in StoneCo, contributing to a total of 73.19% of the company's stock owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on StoneCo's performance, with Zacks Research upgrading the stock to a "strong-buy" rating, while other firms set target prices ranging from $15.00 to $20.00.

Trexquant Investment LP cut its position in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 58.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 323,810 shares of the company's stock after selling 451,320 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.11% of StoneCo worth $3,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STNE. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 4th quarter valued at $132,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 118,826 shares of the company's stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 18,659 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,658 shares of the company's stock worth $24,497,000 after acquiring an additional 952,039 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 105.2% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,111 shares of the company's stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 36,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestline Management LP grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 792.6% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 114,239 shares of the company's stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 101,440 shares during the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StoneCo Stock Down 1.5%

STNE traded down $0.26 during trading on Monday, reaching $17.05. 1,270,440 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,897,882. The stock has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.91. StoneCo Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $7.72 and a fifty-two week high of $17.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $14.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.24.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on StoneCo from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Zacks Research upgraded StoneCo to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on StoneCo from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Santander raised StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.36.

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.