Nordea Investment Management AB Grows Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,167 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Block were worth $3,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Block by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,891,000 after buying an additional 8,200 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its position in Block by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in Block by 1.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Block by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,787 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,037,000 after purchasing an additional 14,822 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 13.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $82.66 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.96. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.00 and a 52 week high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.23 billion, a PE ratio of 46.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SQ shares. Oppenheimer raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 88,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,103,280. This trade represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185. 10.49% of the stock is owned by 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.