Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. Grows Position in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Key Points

• Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. increased its stake in StoneCo Ltd. by 400%, owning 150,000 shares worth approximately $2.4 million.
• Several institutional investors have also significantly increased their holdings in StoneCo, contributing to over 73% of the stock ownership by institutional investors.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for StoneCo, with Wall Street Zen upgrading the stock to a "buy" rating, while Zacks Research categorized it as a "strong-buy" with a consensus price target of $16.56.

Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. raised its position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 400.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 150,000 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 120,000 shares during the quarter. StoneCo makes up approximately 1.1% of Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. owned approximately 0.05% of StoneCo worth $2,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of STNE. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 124.7% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,833,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,717 shares during the period. Ninety One North America Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the second quarter valued at about $7,577,000. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the second quarter valued at about $21,330,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 10.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,492 shares of the company's stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 48.8% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 65,488 shares of the company's stock worth $1,050,000 after buying an additional 21,478 shares during the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on STNE. Wall Street Zen raised StoneCo from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of StoneCo to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, StoneCo currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.56.

StoneCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STNE opened at $17.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. StoneCo Ltd. has a one year low of $7.72 and a one year high of $19.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.57, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.99. The company's fifty day moving average is $16.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.63.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $643.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. StoneCo had a negative net margin of 8.37% and a positive return on equity of 18.71%. Analysts forecast that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS 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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