Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 230,931 Shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ:STNE) by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 230,931 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in StoneCo were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of StoneCo by 204.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,741,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,823,000 after purchasing an additional 5,195,787 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in StoneCo by 2,445.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,287,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,151,000 after buying an additional 2,197,495 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in StoneCo during the second quarter valued at about $23,483,000. Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of StoneCo in the second quarter worth about $21,323,000. Finally, Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of StoneCo by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 3,673,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,065 shares in the last quarter. 73.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on STNE. UBS Group raised their price objective on StoneCo from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of StoneCo from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of StoneCo from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of StoneCo to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $7.00 target price (down previously from $16.50) on shares of StoneCo in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, StoneCo presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.89.

StoneCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:STNE opened at $10.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. StoneCo Ltd. has a one year low of $9.06 and a one year high of $19.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.52, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 2.29.

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.