First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Takes Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,101 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $472,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 3,525.7% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $172,001,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in Block by 72.8% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,683,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,765,000 after buying an additional 1,130,925 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in Block by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Block by 396.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,228,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,390,000 after acquiring an additional 981,320 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $69.47 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.33. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. Sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SQ. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 603,861 shares in the company, valued at $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585 over the last three months. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

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.