StoneCo Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:STNE)

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 10,064 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 59% compared to the typical volume of 6,326 call options.

StoneCo Stock Up 8.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ STNE traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $14.47. 3,218,641 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,202,773. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 2.32. StoneCo has a 1 year low of $9.34 and a 1 year high of $19.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.70 and a 200 day moving average of $15.03.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 13th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. StoneCo had a return on equity of 12.35% and a net margin of 14.08%. The firm had revenue of $623.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $633.35 million. On average, research analysts expect that StoneCo will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 10.2% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 8,386,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,559,000 after purchasing an additional 779,445 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 204.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,741,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,823,000 after purchasing an additional 5,195,787 shares during the period. Polunin Capital Partners Ltd increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 10.5% in the first quarter. Polunin Capital Partners Ltd now owns 3,681,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,157,000 after purchasing an additional 350,656 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,777,000. Finally, Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 16.0% in the second quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 2,841,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,072,000 after purchasing an additional 392,958 shares during the period. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on StoneCo from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on StoneCo from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group upgraded StoneCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.89.

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.