Baillie Gifford & Co. Purchases 147,873 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,233,102 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 147,873 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 1.66% of Block worth $686,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company's stock worth $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its stake in 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 worth $118,103,000 after acquiring an additional 795,000 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in 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 worth $42,413,000 after acquiring an additional 601,020 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Block by 4.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,107,712,000 after acquiring an additional 582,826 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Block by 303.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,589 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,333,000 after purchasing an additional 407,333 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total transaction of $430,966.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 264,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,125,895.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,714 shares of company stock valued at $1,606,992 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SQ. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.30.

Block Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of SQ stock traded up $3.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $86.57. 9,952,475 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,099,657. The business has a 50 day moving average of $69.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.86 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The company has a market capitalization of $53.30 billion, a PE ratio of 48.66, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.48.

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.