StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)’s stock price 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 traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STNE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 target price (down 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. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on StoneCo from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.89.

StoneCo Stock Up 10.7 %

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 PE ratio of 8.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 2.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.05 and a 200-day moving average of $12.48.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its holdings in StoneCo by 8.4% during the second quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 14,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in StoneCo by 9.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 19,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 1,773 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 123,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of StoneCo by 90.2% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 4,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StoneCo during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other 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.