Azora Capital LP Sells 3,337,992 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Azora Capital LP lessened its position in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,525,339 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,337,992 shares during the quarter. StoneCo comprises 1.3% of Azora Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Azora Capital LP owned approximately 0.53% of StoneCo worth $28,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in STNE. Tekne Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in StoneCo in the second quarter worth $35,288,000. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in StoneCo by 218.4% during the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,234,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904,432 shares during the last quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in StoneCo during the third quarter valued at $1,631,000. Truxt Investmentos Ltda. purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo in the 3rd quarter worth $12,116,000. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of StoneCo by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 392,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,425,000 after buying an additional 76,650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STNE opened at $13.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. StoneCo Ltd. has a 12 month low of $9.32 and a 12 month high of $19.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $15.75 and its 200 day moving average is $16.55.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. StoneCo had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 21.55%. The business had revenue of $675.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $704.26 million. Research analysts predict that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on STNE. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research upgraded StoneCo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Santander cut StoneCo from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded StoneCo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on StoneCo from $19.50 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, StoneCo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.44.

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.