Swedbank AB Acquires 4,155 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 11.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,040 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,155 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Block were worth $2,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Block by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,200 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its stake in Block by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,709,000 after acquiring an additional 128,832 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in Block by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,948,000 after acquiring an additional 147,873 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in Block by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Block by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,969,000 after acquiring an additional 14,163 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $88.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market capitalization of $55.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.87, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 2.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.47. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $94.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. New Street Research assumed coverage on Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total value of $609,015.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 246,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,580,192.81. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $123,232.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,605,124.74. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,053 shares of company stock worth $2,393,972 over the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Block

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.