HighVista Strategies LLC Acquires 46,800 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

HighVista Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 49.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 141,930 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,800 shares during the period. HighVista Strategies LLC’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $1,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of STNE. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in StoneCo during the third quarter worth $716,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in StoneCo by 584.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,339,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,341 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,154,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of StoneCo by 10.2% during 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 buying an additional 779,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,636,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,794,000 after buying an additional 88,256 shares during the period. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on STNE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays cut their target price on StoneCo from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down previously from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.89.

StoneCo Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ STNE opened at $9.73 on Tuesday. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52-week low of $9.06 and a 52-week high of $19.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.25. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 7.60, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 2.21.

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.