Zuckerman Investment Group LLC Takes Position in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Key Points

• Zuckerman Investment Group LLC has acquired a new stake in StoneCo Ltd., purchasing 26,000 shares valued at approximately $272,000 during the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds, including Point72 Asset Management L.P. and JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda., significantly increased their holdings in StoneCo, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have varied opinions on StoneCo’s stock, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $15.07, reflecting optimism about its future growth potential.

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 26,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of StoneCo by 13.6% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of StoneCo by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 21,762 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,473 shares of the company's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 1,317 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,715 shares during the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STNE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of StoneCo to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Santander upgraded shares of StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.36.

StoneCo Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:STNE traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.47. 3,496,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,082,378. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of -23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.88. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $14.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.96. StoneCo Ltd. has a 12-month low of $7.72 and a 12-month high of $16.82. 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 (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $643.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. StoneCo had a negative net margin of 8.37% and a positive return on equity of 18.71%. On average, research analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

StoneCo 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.