Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Reduces Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd reduced its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 67.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,513 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 39,041 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Block were worth $1,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of Block by 45.7% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Block by 770.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,738,708 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,849 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its stake in Block by 13.9% in 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. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Block by 76.7% during the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,831,342 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,103,000 after buying an additional 795,000 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 1,061.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 657,667 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,413,000 after buying an additional 601,020 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $88.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 2.48. 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 one year low of $55.00 and a one year high of $94.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $75.20 and its 200 day moving average is $68.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total transaction of $609,015.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 246,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,580,192.81. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,088,560. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,053 shares of company stock worth $2,393,972 over the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.