Woodson Capital Management LP Takes $27.26 Million Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Woodson Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 406,007 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,255,000. Block accounts for approximately 5.3% of Woodson Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Block by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Block by 13.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after buying an additional 128,832 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 1.5% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after buying an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Block by 2.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,969,000 after buying an additional 14,163 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SQ shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total value of $759,347.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 563,894 shares in the company, valued at $51,415,854.92. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total transaction of $609,015.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 246,967 shares in the company, valued at $22,580,192.81. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,053 shares of company stock worth $2,393,972. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 0.3 %

SQ stock opened at $88.78 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $94.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.88, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 2.48.

Block 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.