Rep. Josh Gottheimer Buys Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Stock

Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) recently bought shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ). In a filing disclosed on January 14th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Block stock on December 30th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “MORGAN STANLEY – SELECT UMA ACCOUNT # 1” account.

Representative Josh Gottheimer also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) on 12/30/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) on 12/27/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Grupo Financiero Banorte (OTCMKTS:GBOOY) on 12/27/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Cadre (NYSE:CDRE) on 12/27/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Coloplast A/S (OTCMKTS:CLPBY) on 12/27/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) on 12/23/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Trane Technologies (NYSE:TT) on 12/23/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) on 12/20/2024.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) on 12/19/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Walmart (NYSE:WMT) on 12/19/2024.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $84.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.66, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $55.00 and a one year high of $99.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at about $443,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 526,501 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,954,000 after acquiring an additional 48,107 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 196,456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,669,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 5.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 266,067 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,159,000 after purchasing an additional 13,649 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Block by 6.8% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 15,531 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,103,280. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $129,953.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,057.48. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Block from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.35.

About Representative Gottheimer

Josh Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2017. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2024 election. Gottheimer was first elected to the House in 2016. Prior to his election, Gottheimer worked for Microsoft, the Federal Communications Commission, and for the administration of President Bill Clinton (D). Click here for more information about Gottheimer’s career. Gottheimer serves on the House Financial Services Committee, where is a member of three subcommittees. For more on Gottheimer’s committee assignments, click here. Gottheimer became a co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus in February 2017. Gottheimer attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree. He became a Thouron Fellow at Oxford and attended Harvard Law School. Gottheimer worked as a speech writer under former President Bill Clinton (D), assisting with two State of the Union addresses, among other projects. Before running for Congress, he worked for Microsoft as a general manager for corporate strategy.

Block Company 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.