Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in Block, Inc. in shares (NYSE: SQ – Get an estimate) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company’s most recent public filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 381,883 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,309 shares during the quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can owned about 0.07% of Block worth $20,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. O Dell Group LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 9.9% in the second quarter. O Dell Group LLC now owns 1,448 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Block by 1.7% in the second quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,856 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its holdings in Block by 3.4% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. now owns 5,109 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 1.0% in the third quarter. Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,038 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 3.2% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 8,716 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.49% of the company’s shares.
Block Stock Up 4.8%
Block stock opened at $75.10 on Wednesday. Block, Inc. a fifty-two week low of $51.34 and a fifty-two week high of $149.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.86, and a current ratio of 1.86. The company has a market capitalization of $44.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -80.75, a PEG ratio of 50.32 and a beta of 2.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.47.
Block (NYSE: SQ – Get an estimate) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Block had a return on equity of 2.10% and a net margin of 2.97%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. makes a profit per share of -0.67 in the current year.
Insider buying and selling on the Block
In other Block news, an insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.84, for a total transaction amounting to $1,841,216.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 422,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,289,281.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Block news, an insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.84, for a total transaction amounting to $1,841,216.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 422,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,289,281.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 3,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.86, for a total value of $224,845.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 144,010 shares in the company, valued at $8,476,428.60. You can find this sale disclosure here. Insiders sold a total of 287,537 shares of company stock valued at $18,053,265 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.52% of the company’s shares.
Changes in analyst ratings
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Atlantic Securities dropped their price objective on Block from $110.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Block from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Block from $135.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 21st. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on Block from $175.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Block from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.33, according to MarketBeat.com.
About the block
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 merchants to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products including the Magstripe reader, which enables magnetic stripe card transactions; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and near field payments; A smart card reader that accepts EMV® smart cards and enables transactions with magnetic strip cards; Square Stand, which allows the iPad to be used as a complete solution for a payment terminal or point of sale; and Square Register, which combines proprietary hardware, point-of-sale software and payment technology and managed payment solutions.
Further reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SQ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get Block, Inc. recent 13F filings and insider trading (NYSE: SQ – Get an estimate).
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