Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Sells 827,615 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. decreased its holdings in StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 66.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 412,342 shares of the company’s stock after selling 827,615 shares during the quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $4,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STNE. Central Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew 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 worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new position in shares of StoneCo in the third quarter worth about $125,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in StoneCo in the second quarter worth about $135,000. 73.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on STNE shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 price target (down from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.89.

StoneCo Stock Performance

STNE opened at $9.73 on Tuesday. StoneCo Ltd. has a 1 year low of $9.06 and a 1 year high of $19.46. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 7.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 2.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.22.

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.