StoneCo Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:STNE)

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 9,579 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 71% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,618 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STNE has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of StoneCo from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.38.

StoneCo Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of StoneCo stock opened at $9.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. StoneCo has a 12-month low of $7.72 and a 12-month high of $17.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $8.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.30.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StoneCo

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STNE. Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. boosted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. Squadra Investments Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. now owns 13,951,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,191,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446,709 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 36.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,035,530 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $22,642,000. Truxt Investmentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,695,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted 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 in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.