Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 38,166 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 3,570.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,235 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,166 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Block were worth $2,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Block by 85.3% during the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 64.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Block Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of SQ stock traded down $3.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $95.86. The company had a trading volume of 9,363,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,271,125. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.41 billion, a PE ratio of 55.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The company's fifty day moving average is $77.71 and its 200 day moving average is $69.21. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $99.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.21.

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.