Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 142.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,940 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 5,260 shares during the quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Block were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swiss National Bank increased 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 worth $110,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,200 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Block by 13.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Block by 1.5% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after purchasing an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew 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 worth $35,969,000 after buying an additional 14,163 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,088,560. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at $7,103,280. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,283 shares of company stock valued at $862,773 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SQ shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.18.

Block Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:SQ opened at $92.26 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $73.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.07. The stock has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $94.12.

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.