Erste Asset Management GmbH Acquires New Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 264,360 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,746,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. SouthState Corp increased its holdings in shares of Block by 85.3% in the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Block by 64.7% during 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 purchased a new position in Block in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, New Street Research began coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned 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 $91.46.

Block Price Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $88.55 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $76.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.70. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $94.12. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.75, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.48.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total transaction of $609,015.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 246,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,580,192.81. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $123,232.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,914 shares in the company, valued at $37,605,124.74. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,053 shares of company stock worth $2,393,972 in the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.