1,700,000 Shares in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Bought by Southpoint Capital Advisors LP

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,700,000 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,121,000. Block accounts for approximately 2.7% of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP owned approximately 0.28% of Block as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in Block by 45.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $650,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Block by 770.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,849 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Block by 76.7% in the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,831,342 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,103,000 after purchasing an additional 795,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Block by 1,061.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 657,667 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,413,000 after purchasing an additional 601,020 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on SQ shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. New Street Research began coverage on Block in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was 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 in the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $88.51 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $94.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $76.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $54.86 billion, a PE ratio of 49.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 2.48.

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.