Bamco Inc. NY Purchases 27,070 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Bamco Inc. NY raised its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 457,751 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,070 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY owned 0.07% of Block worth $30,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Block by 194.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,642 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,851,000 after purchasing an additional 69,146 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Block by 100.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 32,843 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,778,000 after acquiring an additional 16,492 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Block by 6.4% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 88,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,336 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Block by 272.5% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,680 shares of the technology company's stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,772 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Price Performance

SQ stock traded down $1.19 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $91.59. The company had a trading volume of 3,045,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,224,433. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.85. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $95.95. The company has a market cap of $56.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SQ shares. BNP Paribas cut Block from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 11th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.21.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total value of $609,015.23. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 246,967 shares in the company, valued at $22,580,192.81. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,053 shares of company stock valued at $2,393,972. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About 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 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.