Stifel Financial Corp Trims Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Stifel Financial Corp reduced its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 19.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,841 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 35,554 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in Block were worth $9,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted 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 worth $650,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter worth about $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Block by 770.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $116,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538,849 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 13.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its position in Block by 76.7% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,097,325. This represents a 3.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Block Trading Down 4.2 %

SQ stock traded down $4.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $94.06. 9,760,077 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,272,364. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.50. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.72 and a 200-day moving average of $70.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SQ shares. BMO Capital Markets cut Block from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $88.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.21.

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.