Bridgewater Associates LP Boosts Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 2,156.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 395,697 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 378,157 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.06% of Block worth $26,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Block by 1.5% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,948,000 after buying an additional 147,873 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after buying an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Block by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,202,388 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $147,846,000 after buying an additional 45,472 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Block by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,143,000 after acquiring an additional 326,444 shares during the period. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its stake in Block by 76.7% during the 2nd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,831,342 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,103,000 after acquiring an additional 795,000 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,088,560. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,781 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total transaction of $162,836.83. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 86,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,863,894.30. The trade was a 2.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,053 shares of company stock worth $2,393,972. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $88.77 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $94.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $55.02 billion, a PE ratio of 49.87, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 2.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SQ shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Block in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Block Company Profile

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.