Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Boosts Position in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 37.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,689,839 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 457,856 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $19,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of STNE. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of StoneCo by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 52,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $869,000 after acquiring an additional 4,146 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in StoneCo by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,636,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,794,000 after buying an additional 88,256 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in StoneCo in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,580,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in StoneCo in the 1st quarter worth approximately $187,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in StoneCo in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Trading Down 1.1 %

StoneCo stock opened at $9.76 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.70. StoneCo Ltd. has a 12 month low of $9.61 and a 12 month high of $19.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 2.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on STNE. Susquehanna dropped their target price on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down previously from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on StoneCo from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

StoneCo Profile

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.