StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Cut to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $13.00 target price on the stock.

STNE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup lowered StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of StoneCo from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.92.

StoneCo Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:STNE opened at $11.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $10.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.43. StoneCo has a 52-week low of $9.45 and a 52-week high of $19.95.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.42. The company had revenue of $141.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $675.11 million. StoneCo had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 23.82%. On average, analysts anticipate that StoneCo will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Silvio Jose Morais sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $101,610.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,000 shares in the company, valued at $237,090. This trade represents a 30.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of StoneCo by 11,473.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in StoneCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in StoneCo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in StoneCo by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new position in StoneCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Company Profile

StoneCo Ltd., commonly known as Stone, is a Brazilian financial technology company that provides integrated digital payment solutions and related financial services to merchants. Through its cloud-based platform, Stone enables businesses of all sizes to accept a variety of payment methods, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, mobile card readers and e-commerce gateways. In addition to payment acceptance, the company offers value-added services such as working capital loans, digital banking products and automated billing tools designed to help merchants manage cash flow and streamline operations.

Since its founding in 2012 by André Street and Eduardo Pontes, Stone has focused on serving over half a million merchants across Brazil’s retail, restaurant and services sectors.