Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $4 Million Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 69.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,582 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 134,699 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Block were worth $4,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Block by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,088,122,000 after acquiring an additional 318,549 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Block by 4.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,107,712,000 after purchasing an additional 582,826 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Block by 45.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $650,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its holdings in Block by 13.9% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Block by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company's stock worth $139,143,000 after buying an additional 326,444 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 580,086 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,572,170.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 580,086 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,572,170.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 255,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932 in the last three months. Insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SQ. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.79.

Block Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Block stock traded up $0.67 on Wednesday, hitting $73.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,224,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,936,215. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $67.54 and a 200-day moving average of $66.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.88 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Block's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

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.