Perpetual Ltd Takes Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 126,828 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $10,779,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at about $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Block by 770.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $116,719,000 after buying an additional 1,538,849 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in Block by 13.9% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter worth $27,255,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Block by 358.4% during the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 503,402 shares of the technology company's stock worth $33,793,000 after acquiring an additional 393,593 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.13. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The firm has a market cap of $53.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total value of $129,953.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,199 shares in the company, valued at $20,955,057.48. This trade represents a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 195,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SQ. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.