StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) Short Interest Up 33.3% in December

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,360,000 shares, an increase of 33.3% from the November 30th total of 18,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down previously from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $21.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.13.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 90.2% during the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new position in StoneCo in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $125,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of StoneCo in the 2nd quarter worth $135,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 2nd quarter valued at $137,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 13,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 3,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Price Performance

Shares of StoneCo stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $8.19. The stock had a trading volume of 3,081,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,291,565. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. StoneCo has a 12 month low of $7.89 and a 12 month high of $19.46. The firm has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 2.21. The business’s 50-day moving average is $9.94 and its 200 day moving average is $11.54.

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.