Silvio Jose Morais Sells 21,000 Shares of StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Stock

Key Points

• StoneCo director Silvio Jose Morais sold 21,000 shares at an average price of $9.91, generating $208,110; he also sold 9,000 shares in June.
• StoneCo shares rose 4.7% to $10.28, while the company reported quarterly earnings of $0.47 per share, slightly exceeding analyst estimates.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $14.30 price target, as recent firms lowered targets despite several Buy ratings.

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) Director Silvio Morais sold 21,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.91, for a total transaction of $208,110.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Silvio Jose Morais also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 12th, Silvio Morais sold 9,000 shares of StoneCo stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $101,610.00.

StoneCo Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of STNE traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $10.28. 764,931 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,336,049. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.75. StoneCo Ltd. has a 1 year low of $9.08 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The firm's fifty day moving average is $10.49 and its 200-day moving average is $11.94.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. StoneCo had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 22.92%.The firm had revenue of $129.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $708.24 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on STNE shares. Citigroup cut shares of StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $12.60 price target for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of StoneCo from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BTIG Research reduced their target price on StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.30.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in StoneCo by 77.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company's stock.

StoneCo Company 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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