StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Shares Down 5.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) dropped 5.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $16.54 and last traded at $16.5250. Approximately 2,574,504 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 5,952,885 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on STNE. Zacks Research raised StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on StoneCo from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on StoneCo from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of StoneCo from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.21.

StoneCo Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.04. The company has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.85.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. The company had revenue of $669.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.81 million. StoneCo had a negative net margin of 7.28% and a positive return on equity of 20.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that StoneCo Ltd. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of StoneCo by 327.4% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of StoneCo during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in StoneCo by 334.4% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in StoneCo during the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. 73.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.