Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Trims Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 79.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,242 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 676,109 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Block were worth $12,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 19.6% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 25,548 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,161,000 after buying an additional 4,189 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Block by 95.0% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,800 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Natixis bought a new position in shares of Block in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,451,000. Shell Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in Block in the first quarter worth about $435,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $248,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 2.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,103,280. The trade was a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,283 shares of company stock worth $862,773. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.18.

Block Stock Down 0.5 %

SQ traded down $0.44 on Friday, hitting $92.26. 8,964,943 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,234,381. 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 market cap of $57.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 2.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.99. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $94.12.

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.