Paradiem LLC Sells 125,130 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Paradiem LLC reduced its holdings in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 38.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,008 shares of the company’s stock after selling 125,130 shares during the quarter. Paradiem LLC’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $3,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pearl River Capital LLC boosted its stake in StoneCo by 149.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 145,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 86,924 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in StoneCo by 72.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,969,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,463 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in StoneCo by 103.8% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,234,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,172,000 after purchasing an additional 628,698 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in StoneCo by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,147,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,244,000 after purchasing an additional 24,598 shares during the period. Finally, JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. bought a new stake in StoneCo in the 3rd quarter valued at $16,603,000. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on STNE. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded StoneCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $12.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on StoneCo from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on StoneCo from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group cut StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on StoneCo from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.00.

StoneCo Price Performance

Shares of StoneCo stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.35. 6,294,173 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,732,987. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. StoneCo Ltd. has a 1-year low of $9.34 and a 1-year high of $19.46. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 2.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $16.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.52.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 18th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. StoneCo had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 13.35%. The company had revenue of $655.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.47 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current 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.