Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,369 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. boosted its position in shares of Block by 76.7% in the 2nd 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 period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Block by 1,061.0% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 657,667 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,413,000 after buying an additional 601,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in Block by 4.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,107,712,000 after buying an additional 582,826 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $90.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.50. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $91.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $237,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at $7,088,560. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 88,791 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,678 shares of company stock worth $1,924,112. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block 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.