StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Holdings Trimmed by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 90.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STNE. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of StoneCo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in StoneCo by 681.9% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 33,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 29,620 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in StoneCo during the third quarter valued at approximately $915,000. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its holdings in StoneCo by 43.4% during the third quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 3,673,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,363,000 after buying an additional 1,111,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vinland Capital Management Gestora de Recursos LTDA. acquired a new position in StoneCo in the third quarter worth approximately $539,000. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on STNE shares. Barclays cut their price objective on StoneCo from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna dropped their price target on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 target price (down from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, StoneCo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.89.

StoneCo Price Performance

Shares of STNE opened at $10.90 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $11.02 and its 200-day moving average is $12.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 2.29. StoneCo Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $9.06 and a fifty-two week high of $19.46.

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.