Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. Takes $510,000 Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,000 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SouthState Corp boosted its position in shares of Block by 85.3% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Block by 64.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Block by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Block by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SQ. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.68.

Block Stock Performance

SQ stock opened at $87.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.92, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.98. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at $7,103,280. The trade was a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total value of $759,347.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 563,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,415,854.92. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,981 shares of company stock valued at $2,681,185. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

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.