Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. Takes Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,014 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 266,067 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,159,000 after acquiring an additional 13,649 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,143,000 after acquiring an additional 326,444 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 4,833 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Block by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 57,947 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Block by 189.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 4,587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE SQ opened at $87.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.75. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26. 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 $53.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.88, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,088,560. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,981 shares of company stock valued at $2,681,185. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.68.

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.