Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC acquired a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 34,295 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,915,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Block by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 37,395 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 9,142 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth $443,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Block by 1,307.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 7,520 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Block by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 218,839 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,113,000 after buying an additional 5,038 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Block by 10.1% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 526,501 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,954,000 after acquiring an additional 48,107 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $129,953.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,199 shares in the company, valued at $20,955,057.48. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at $7,103,280. This trade represents a 1.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.77.

Block Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of SQ traded down $4.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $82.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,067,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,571,778. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.00 and a 52 week 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 company has a market capitalization of $51.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.83.

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.