StoneCo Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:STNE)

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 7,893 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 271% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,126 call options.

StoneCo Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ STNE traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.18. 1,359,031 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,346,711. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.88. StoneCo has a 1 year low of $9.08 and a 1 year high of $19.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.75.

StoneCo (NASDAQ:STNE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. StoneCo had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 22.92%.The business had revenue of $129.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.24 million. On average, equities analysts predict that StoneCo will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Silvio Morais sold 21,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.91, for a total value of $208,110.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of StoneCo

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in StoneCo by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 16,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in StoneCo by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 54.4% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of StoneCo by 77.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in StoneCo by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 13,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the period. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on StoneCo in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $12.60 target price for the company. BTIG Research decreased their target price on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America downgraded StoneCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on StoneCo from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of StoneCo from $20.00 to $16.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, StoneCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.30.

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.