Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,375 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,338 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $2,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $650,396,000 after buying an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Block by 770.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538,849 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in Block by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 574,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,605,124.74. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,053 shares of company stock worth $2,393,972. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $88.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $94.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a PE ratio of 49.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $76.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SQ. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.46.

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.