Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 53.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,757 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,643 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Block were worth $384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in Block by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company's stock worth $686,948,000 after acquiring an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,690,075 shares of the technology company's stock worth $581,923,000 after purchasing an additional 133,002 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 13.9% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 2.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,202,388 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $147,846,000 after buying an additional 45,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Block by 17.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $139,143,000 after buying an additional 326,444 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Price Performance

SQ traded down $2.13 on Friday, hitting $91.98. 8,351,614 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,272,736. The business's fifty day moving average is $81.79 and its 200 day moving average is $70.50. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. New Street Research began coverage on Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Block from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total transaction of $759,347.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 563,894 shares in the company, valued at $51,415,854.92. This trade represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,918 shares of company stock worth $2,666,147 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Block 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.