5 Stocks US Politicians Bought Before Russia’s Attack on Ukraine

2. Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) 

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) is a California-based payments technology company that has climbed close to 44% in the last month, owing to commercial success across its Cash App and strong Q4 results. The company is also making meaningful headway in the crypto space.

James Langevin, the U.S. Representative for Rhode Island’s 2nd congressional district, bought shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) on February 2, valued at between $50,001 to $100,000. The transaction was reported on March 4. 

On March 11, Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev lowered the price target on Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) to $180 from $210 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst upgraded his Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) rating after the company published its Q4 results. He noted that payments stocks appear best positioned within technology to gain in the second half of 2022, as the two-year revenue growth will inflect positively in the coming quarters. 

Among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, ARK Investment Management is one of the leading shareholders of the company, with 6.1 million shares worth approximately $998 million. Overall, 96 hedge funds were bullish on Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021.

Here is what Baron FinTech Fund has to say about Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“High exposure to lagging E-commerce companies and underperformance of Block, Inc. (formerly Square, Inc.) in the Payments theme were the only material detractors from relative performance. E-commerce stocks lagged as a return to in-store shopping caused online shopping growth to moderate. Block was the second largest detractor due to slowing growth in the Cash App segment and greater skepticism about the growth prospects for the pending acquisition of Afterpay.”