Udine Wealth Management Inc. Purchases New Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Udine Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,208 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $953,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Block by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,200 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Block by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after acquiring an additional 128,832 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted 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 worth $686,948,000 after purchasing an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 14,822 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew 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 valued at $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,097,325. This represents a 3.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,103,280. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,981 shares of company stock valued at $2,681,185 over the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE SQ opened at $87.00 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.92 billion, a PE 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 current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The business’s 50-day moving average is $89.61 and its 200 day moving average is $74.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SQ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price 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. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.68.

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.