Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,697 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Block by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,891,000 after buying an additional 8,200 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Block by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after purchasing an additional 147,873 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,787 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $17,037,000 after purchasing an additional 14,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 563,894 shares in the company, valued at $51,415,854.92. The trade was a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $237,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,981 shares of company stock valued at $2,681,185. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Block from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.68.

Block Stock Performance

SQ stock opened at $87.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $53.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26.

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.