JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. Cuts Stake in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. cut its holdings in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 29.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,215,966 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,338,359 shares during the period. StoneCo makes up 35.4% of JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. owned 1.12% of StoneCo worth $60,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 218.4% in the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,234,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,070,000 after buying an additional 2,904,432 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of StoneCo in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,366,000. Azora Capital LP lifted its holdings in StoneCo by 88.2% in the 2nd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 4,863,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,008,000 after purchasing an additional 2,279,821 shares during the last quarter. Tekne Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in StoneCo during the second quarter worth approximately $35,288,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in StoneCo during the second quarter worth approximately $34,768,000. 73.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StoneCo Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of STNE stock opened at $14.89 on Friday. StoneCo Ltd. has a 1 year low of $7.72 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. StoneCo had a negative net margin of 7.28% and a positive return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $669.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.81 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on STNE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of StoneCo from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of StoneCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.21.

About StoneCo

StoneCo Ltd., commonly known as Stone, is a Brazilian financial technology company that provides integrated digital payment solutions and related financial services to merchants. Through its cloud-based platform, Stone enables businesses of all sizes to accept a variety of payment methods, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, mobile card readers and e-commerce gateways. In addition to payment acceptance, the company offers value-added services such as working capital loans, digital banking products and automated billing tools designed to help merchants manage cash flow and streamline operations.

Since its founding in 2012 by André Street and Eduardo Pontes, Stone has focused on serving over half a million merchants across Brazil’s retail, restaurant and services sectors.