DRW Securities LLC Acquires New Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,926 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SVB Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 4,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 8.9% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,827 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Block by 28.3% in the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,330 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Block by 587.8% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 14,547 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 12,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $518,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:SQ opened at $89.04 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.32. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $94.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.02, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 2.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SQ. New Street Research began coverage on Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $123,232.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 574,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,605,124.74. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,742,652.88. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,053 shares of company stock valued at $2,393,972 over the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.