Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 45,472 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 2.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,202,388 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,472 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $147,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp grew its stake in shares of Block by 85.3% during the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Block during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.18.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,088,560. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,283 shares of company stock valued at $862,773 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Block Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $92.26 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $94.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.83 and a 200 day moving average of $68.07.

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.