The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Stock

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs has raised its price target for StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) from $19.00 to $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.06% based on the stock's previous close and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Multiple analysts have provided favorable ratings on StoneCo, with JPMorgan and Bank of America also raising their price targets, indicating increasing optimism around the stock.
• Institutional ownership in StoneCo is significant, with 73.19% of the stock held by institutional investors and hedge funds, reflecting strong investor interest in the company.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.06% from the stock's previous close.

STNE has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on StoneCo from $15.50 to $18.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research upgraded StoneCo to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America increased their price objective on StoneCo from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on StoneCo from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.44.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STNE traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.21. 1,824,478 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,820,656. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.59, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.99. The business's fifty day moving average is $16.92 and its 200-day moving average is $14.75. StoneCo has a one year low of $7.72 and a one year high of $19.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. StoneCo had a positive return on equity of 18.71% and a negative net margin of 8.37%.The company had revenue of $643.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that StoneCo will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 3.1% during the first quarter. Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. now owns 11,982,873 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,581,000 after acquiring an additional 359,037 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 10.5% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 180,665 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,893,000 after acquiring an additional 17,192 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in StoneCo during the first quarter valued at about $597,000. Fourth Sail Capital LP bought a new stake in StoneCo during the first quarter valued at about $13,640,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 1,486.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,720 shares during the period. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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