Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Increases Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 391.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 292,571 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 232,989 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Block were worth $24,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes 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. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Block by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Block by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $129,953.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. This represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SQ. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Macquarie raised their target price on Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Block from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.68.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ traded up $0.62 on Friday, reaching $87.00. 5,788,892 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,727,022. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $89.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.68. The stock 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. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block Company 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.