34,295 Shares in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Bought by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC purchased a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 34,295 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,915,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,864 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Block by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,637 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,917,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Block by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 43,167 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after buying an additional 2,305 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Block in the fourth quarter worth $1,129,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Block

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Block from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.77.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock traded down $4.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $82.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,067,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,571,778. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The company’s fifty day moving average is $88.39 and its 200-day moving average is $73.83. The company has a market capitalization of $51.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51.

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.