Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Cuts Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,820,783 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 253,870 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Block were worth $525,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of Block in the 1st quarter worth $248,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Block in the first quarter worth about $63,000. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 5.6% during the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 4,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 2,957.1% in the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 10,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 10,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 8.9% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,827 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

SQ opened at $92.26 on Monday. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $94.12. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.07. The company has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.83, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at $16,742,652.88. The trade was a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,283 shares of company stock worth $862,773. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

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.