Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New Investment in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 286,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,435,000. Quantbot Technologies LP owned approximately 0.09% of StoneCo at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of STNE. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,001,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,082,000 after purchasing an additional 253,276 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,008,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,777,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,139,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 3.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,636,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,794,000 after purchasing an additional 88,256 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of STNE opened at $12.39 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $13.07 and its 200 day moving average is $14.32. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 2.31. StoneCo Ltd. has a 12-month low of $9.34 and a 12-month high of $19.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.04). StoneCo had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 15.27%. The firm had revenue of $615.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $590.74 million. Research analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on STNE shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on StoneCo from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised StoneCo from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 price target (down previously from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.80.

StoneCo Profile

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.