StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $13.47, but opened at $14.00. StoneCo shares last traded at $13.94, with a volume of 2,237,384 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STNE. Barclays boosted their price target on StoneCo from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on StoneCo from $15.50 to $18.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Santander raised StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen cut StoneCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded StoneCo from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $9.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StoneCo presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.07.

StoneCo Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $14.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.94.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. StoneCo had a negative net margin of 8.90% and a positive return on equity of 16.65%. The firm had revenue of $625.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in StoneCo in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in StoneCo by 1,486.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 327.4% in 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 period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in StoneCo by 627.0% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 3,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in StoneCo by 334.4% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company's stock.

StoneCo Company 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.