StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 26.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 298,934 shares of the company's stock after selling 107,939 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.10% of StoneCo worth $2,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of STNE. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in StoneCo by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,419,797 shares of the company's stock worth $43,120,000 after purchasing an additional 229,453 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter worth about $22,642,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda increased its stake in shares of StoneCo by 3,248.6% during the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 1,813,588 shares of the company's stock worth $14,454,000 after buying an additional 1,759,429 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in StoneCo by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,696,729 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,523,000 after acquiring an additional 116,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in StoneCo by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 987,298 shares of the company's stock worth $7,869,000 after acquiring an additional 47,841 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company's stock.

StoneCo Stock Up 1.0 %

StoneCo stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $13.17. 1,319,243 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,472,197. The company has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.05. StoneCo Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $7.72 and a fifty-two week high of $17.09. The company's fifty day moving average price is $10.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $582.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.59 billion. StoneCo had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.92%. On average, research analysts predict that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on STNE. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of StoneCo from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup raised shares of StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.38.

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.