KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Holdings in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 50,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in StoneCo by 254.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 3,056 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased 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 worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings 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 valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth $73,000. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STNE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded StoneCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of StoneCo from $5.70 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, StoneCo has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.50.

StoneCo Stock Performance

STNE stock opened at $10.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. StoneCo Ltd. has a 12-month low of $7.72 and a 12-month high of $17.93.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.07. StoneCo had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The firm had revenue of $582.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

StoneCo Company 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.