Voya Investment Management LLC Cuts Holdings in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 314,046 shares of the company's stock after selling 54,092 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.10% of StoneCo worth $2,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of StoneCo by 254.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 3,056 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of StoneCo by 627.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in StoneCo by 166.7% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in StoneCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in StoneCo by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 7,500 shares of the company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on STNE shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. 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 target for the stock from $9.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on StoneCo from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $15.38.

StoneCo Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of StoneCo stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $13.34. The company had a trading volume of 4,979,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,718,955. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.22 and a 200 day moving average of $10.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.01. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52-week low of $7.72 and a 52-week high of $17.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $582.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.59 billion. StoneCo had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 16.02%. On average, equities analysts predict that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.