BNC Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 20,920 Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

BNC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 20,920 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,778,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Block by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 stake in Block by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $72,709,000 after buying an additional 128,832 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Block by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $686,948,000 after buying an additional 147,873 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Block by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,787 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $17,037,000 after buying an additional 14,822 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its stake in Block by 13.9% in 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 buying an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on SQ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Block from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.68.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ stock traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $87.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,788,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,438,821. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.00 and a 1-year high of $99.26. The company has a market cap of $53.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.88, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm's 50-day moving average is $89.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at $7,103,280. This trade represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 195,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.