StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $9.27, but opened at $9.90. StoneCo shares last traded at $10.13, with a volume of 2,313,859 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on STNE shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on StoneCo from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $7.00 price objective (down previously from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StoneCo presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.89.

StoneCo Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.56. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 2.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StoneCo

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in StoneCo by 204.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,741,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,823,000 after buying an additional 5,195,787 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Truxt Investmentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in StoneCo during the third quarter worth approximately $31,695,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in StoneCo by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,972,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,765,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692,558 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of StoneCo by 2,445.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,287,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

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.