Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Sold by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 78.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,611 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 9,503 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Block by 3,525.7% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,072,000 after buying an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $172,001,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in Block by 72.8% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,683,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,925 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,514 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Block by 396.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,228,886 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,390,000 after purchasing an additional 981,320 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 1.2 %

SQ stock opened at $69.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.16. The stock has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a PE ratio of 90.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 2.57. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SQ. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their price target on Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.42.

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.