Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 11,699 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 35.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,022 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 11,699 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $1,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SouthState Corp raised its position in shares of Block by 85.3% during the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Block by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 64.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SQ shares. Raymond James raised Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Macquarie raised their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer raised Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 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 $80,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,103,280. The trade was a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of Block stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,088,560. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185 over the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $87.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.92 billion, a PE ratio of 48.88, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.68. 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 $99.26.

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.