126,828 Shares in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Acquired by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 126,828 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,779,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SouthState Corp raised its holdings in shares of Block by 85.3% in the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Block by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Block by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Block by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.68.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $87.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.97 billion, a PE ratio of 48.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.51. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $99.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,502 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total value of $129,953.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,199 shares in the company, valued at $20,955,057.48. This represents a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,103,280. This trade represents a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,981 shares of company stock valued at $2,681,185. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Company 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.