Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Insider Owen Britton Jennings Sells 2,836 Shares

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Block Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Block stock opened at $86.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.66, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.77.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Block during the third quarter worth about $114,121,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake 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 valued at $116,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,849 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Block by 76.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 795,000 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Block by 1,061.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 657,667 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,413,000 after buying an additional 601,020 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.