Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 230,931 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 90.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 230,931 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in StoneCo by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,422,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,617,000 after acquiring an additional 3,035,530 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,972,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692,558 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of StoneCo by 204.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,741,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,823,000 after purchasing an additional 5,195,787 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in StoneCo by 36.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,190,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374,788 shares during the period. Finally, Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. grew its stake in StoneCo by 43.4% in the third quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 3,673,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,065 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:STNE opened at $8.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.40, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.36. StoneCo Ltd. has a 52 week low of $7.83 and a 52 week high of $19.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on STNE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of StoneCo from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.13.

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.