Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $24.87 Million Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 391.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 292,571 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 232,989 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Block were worth $24,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Block by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 13.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 1.5% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,948,000 after purchasing an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Block by 6.2% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,787 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,037,000 after buying an additional 14,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in 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. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total transaction of $759,347.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 563,894 shares in the company, valued at $51,415,854.92. The trade was a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,325. This represents a 3.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,981 shares of company stock valued at $2,681,185 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Macquarie upped their target price on Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.68.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $86.38 on Friday. 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 $99.26. The stock has a market cap of $53.25 billion, a PE ratio of 48.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $89.14 and a 200-day moving average of $74.43.

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.