Eagle Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 12.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,848 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,128 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Block were worth $4,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter valued at $248,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the first quarter valued at about $63,000. SVB Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Block by 5.6% in the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 4,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Block by 2,957.1% in the first quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 10,000 shares of the technology company's stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 10,350 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,827 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 88,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,103,280. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 255,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,742,652.88. This represents a 2.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,283 shares of company stock worth $862,773. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Block from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ traded down $1.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $90.75. The stock had a trading volume of 11,049,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,247,438. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.83 and a 200 day moving average of $68.07. 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 cap of $56.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.74, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.48. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $94.12.

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.