Financial Counselors Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,062 Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Financial Counselors Inc. bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,062 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Block by 1.5% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after acquiring an additional 147,873 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position in Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Block by 2.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,202,388 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $147,846,000 after acquiring an additional 45,472 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Block by 17.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its position in Block by 76.7% in the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,831,342 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,103,000 after acquiring an additional 795,000 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 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 $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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,053 shares of company stock worth $2,393,972 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Block stock opened at $88.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.70. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $94.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets downgraded 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 report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.46.

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.