Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in StoneCo Ltd. $STNE

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 275.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 314,908 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 231,143 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.13% of StoneCo worth $4,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in StoneCo in the first quarter valued at approximately $902,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in StoneCo in the first quarter worth $70,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in StoneCo by 37.4% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 28,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 7,635 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in StoneCo by 8.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 256,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,109,000 after buying an additional 19,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of StoneCo by 10.0% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.19% of the company’s stock.

StoneCo Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of STNE stock opened at $11.38 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. StoneCo Ltd. has a 1 year low of $9.45 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.55, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.73.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.42. StoneCo had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 23.82%.The firm had revenue of $141.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $675.11 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that StoneCo Ltd. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on STNE. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $12.60 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America cut StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Silvio Jose Morais sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total transaction of $101,610.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $237,090. The trade was a 30.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.25% of the company’s stock.

About StoneCo

StoneCo Ltd., commonly known as Stone, is a Brazilian financial technology company that provides integrated digital payment solutions and related financial services to merchants. Through its cloud-based platform, Stone enables businesses of all sizes to accept a variety of payment methods, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, mobile card readers and e-commerce gateways. In addition to payment acceptance, the company offers value-added services such as working capital loans, digital banking products and automated billing tools designed to help merchants manage cash flow and streamline operations.

Since its founding in 2012 by André Street and Eduardo Pontes, Stone has focused on serving over half a million merchants across Brazil’s retail, restaurant and services sectors.