Pitcairn Co. Cuts Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Pitcairn Co. reduced its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,581 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,570 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Block were worth $912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and 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 grew its holdings in shares of Block by 770.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,719,000 after buying an additional 1,538,849 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 13.9% during 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 buying an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 76.7% during 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 buying an additional 795,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Block by 1,061.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 657,667 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,413,000 after buying an additional 601,020 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $92.26 on Monday. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $94.12. The stock has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a PE 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.83 and a 200 day moving average of $68.07.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,060,820. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction 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 approximately $37,605,124.74. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,283 shares of company stock valued at $862,773. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 11th. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.18.

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.