Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Stock

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $5.70 to $6.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 45.95% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on STNE. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded StoneCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price target (down previously from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.50.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of STNE stock opened at $11.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.36 and a 200-day moving average of $9.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. StoneCo has a one year low of $7.72 and a one year high of $17.93.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $582.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. StoneCo had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that StoneCo will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STNE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in StoneCo by 254.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 3,056 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 627.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 3,925 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of StoneCo by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

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.