Squarepoint Ops LLC Purchases New Shares in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 741,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,040,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.30% of StoneCo at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of STNE. Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. boosted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 435.5% in the first quarter. Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. now owns 6,662,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,071,000 after buying an additional 5,418,053 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 1,054.8% during the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 5,236,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,450,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783,158 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 151.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,032,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,180,000 after acquiring an additional 3,636,276 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,017,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in StoneCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,247,000. 73.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on STNE shares. BTIG Research decreased their target price on StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America lowered StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $12.60 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on StoneCo from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.30.

StoneCo Stock Up 4.9%

STNE stock opened at $10.30 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.88. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.16, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.75. StoneCo Ltd. has a 12-month low of $9.08 and a 12-month high of $19.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. StoneCo had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 22.19%. The business had revenue of $129.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.24 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other StoneCo news, Director Silvio Morais sold 21,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.91, for a total value of $208,110.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.