Swiss National Bank Boosts Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,651,886 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.27% of Block worth $110,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 88,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,103,280. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,678 shares of company stock worth $1,924,112. Insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Block Trading Up 1.4 %

Block stock traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $92.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,558,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,187,956. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $71.53 and a 200-day moving average of $67.50. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $55.00 and a one year high of $92.45. The stock has a market cap of $57.07 billion, a PE ratio of 51.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 2.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Macquarie reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.30.

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.