Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 227,325 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,486 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Block were worth $15,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,060,820. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $237,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 88,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,088,560. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ traded up $2.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $98.25. 9,410,655 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,768,006. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $78.93 and a 200 day moving average of $69.56. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $99.26. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $60.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 2.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SQ shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.96.

Block Company 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.