Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,029 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,302 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $2,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Block by 7.4% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 18,855 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Block by 65.8% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Block by 190.2% in the second quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 12,375 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $798,000 after buying an additional 8,111 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Block by 1.0% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 139,574 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Block by 32.4% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 37,395 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 9,142 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $92.16 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.11.

Insider Activity at Block

In related 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 directly owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,088,560. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total transaction of $609,015.23. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 246,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,580,192.81. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,120,494 in the last three months. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. BNP Paribas lowered Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.94.

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.