Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Boosts Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 102,588 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 15,500 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Block were worth $6,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Block by 36.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 9,468 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,521 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Block by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 37,885 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after buying an additional 4,287 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 9,335 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 2,230.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,167 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 2,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boomfish Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 8.3% in the second quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,111 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SQ shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.21.

Block Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of SQ opened at $94.06 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.16. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $99.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 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 value of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total value of $609,015.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 246,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,580,192.81. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147 over the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.