AQR Capital Management LLC Has $2.35 Million Stock Position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 198,895 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,941 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of StoneCo worth $2,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of STNE. Central Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in StoneCo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo in the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 152.1% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in StoneCo by 90.2% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in StoneCo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $135,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STNE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on StoneCo from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 price target (down from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.80.

StoneCo Stock Performance

Shares of STNE stock opened at $11.14 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.70. StoneCo Ltd. has a 12 month low of $9.34 and a 12 month high of $19.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 2.30.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $615.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $590.74 million. StoneCo had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 15.27%. Analysts forecast that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.