MetLife Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,406 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 415 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $1,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SQ. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Block by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,891,000 after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after acquiring an additional 128,832 shares during the last quarter. 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 increased its stake 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 valued at $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Block by 2.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,969,000 after purchasing an additional 14,163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SQ shares. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $123,232.44. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,605,124.74. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,918 shares of company stock worth $2,666,147 over the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Block Stock Down 3.1 %

SQ stock opened at $95.86 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $78.30 and a 200 day moving average of $69.39. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The firm has a market cap of $59.41 billion, a PE ratio of 53.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 2.50.

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.