D.A. Davidson & CO. Increases Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 6.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,850 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 864 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Block were worth $930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Block by 0.4% during the third quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 39,688 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,664,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in shares of Block by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,744 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,265 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Block by 14.8% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $123,232.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 574,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,605,124.74. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,053 shares of company stock valued at $2,393,972 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on SQ shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 15th. New Street Research began coverage on Block in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.46.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE SQ opened at $88.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.75, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $76.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.70. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-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.

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.