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The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ – Get a rating) by 87.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent communication with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund held 117,931 shares of the technology company after selling 859,633 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Block were worth $6,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
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Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently changed their stakes in the company. Caisse DE Dépôt ET Placement DU Québec increased its stake in Block shares by 63.6% in the second quarter. Caisse DE Dépôt ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 216,168 shares of the tech company valued at $13,286,000 after acquiring an additional 84,008 shares last quarter. The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Block shares to 42,272.9% in the second quarter. The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 25,000 shares of the technology company valued at $1,536,000 after acquiring 24,941 additional shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Block shares by 8.2% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 42,824 shares of the technology company valued at $2,355,000 after acquiring 3,229 additional shares last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Block shares by 0.8% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 129,006 shares of the technology company valued at $7,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares last quarter. Finally, NuWave Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter worth approximately $180,000. 59.49% of the shares are currently held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Changes to analyst ratings
SQ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research cut its price target on Block shares from $175.00 to $100.00 in a Friday, November 4 research report. BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Block’s shares from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a Monday, Nov. 7 research report. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a price target of $85.00 on shares of Block in a Friday, November 18 research report. Macquarie upgraded Block’s shares from a “neutral” rating to an “outperforming” rating and set a price target of $100.00 for the company in a Tuesday, Nov. 8 research report. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut its price target on Block shares from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a Thursday, Dec. 8 research report. Two equity research analysts rated the stock with a sell rating, six issued a hold rating and thirty-one gave the company a buy rating. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.08.
Insider buying and selling
In other Block news, Insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,769 shares of the company in a trade on Wednesday, November 2. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.46, for a total transaction of $1,798,755.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 422,615 shares of the company, valued at approximately $24,706,072.90. The sale was disclosed in an SEC filing, which is available via this hyperlink. In other Block news, Insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,769 shares of the company in a trade on Wednesday, November 2. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.46, for a total transaction of $1,798,755.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 422,615 shares of the company, valued at approximately $24,706,072.90. The sale was disclosed in an SEC filing, which is available via this hyperlink. Also, insider Sivan Whiteley sold 2,716 shares of the company in a trade on Tuesday, January 3. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total value of $174,584.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 105,400 shares of the company, valued at $6,775,112. Disclosure of this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 318,306 shares of the company worth $20,906,782 in the past ninety days. Company insiders own 11.52% of the company’s shares.
Block inventory up 3.3%
Shares of SQ opened at $83.83 on Monday. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.34 and a 12 month high of $149.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $67.24 and its 200-day moving average is $67.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt ratio of 0.25.
Block (NYSE: SQ – Get a rating) last released its results on Thursday, November 3. The technology company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.01 for the quarter, beating analyst consensus estimates of $0.15 ($0.16). Block had a negative return on equity of 2.10% and a negative net margin of 2.97%. The company posted revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, versus $4.48 billion expected by analysts. On average, research analysts predict Block, Inc. will post -0.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.
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 a Magstripe reader, which enables transactions by swiping 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 swipe transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which allows an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or as a complete point-of-sale solution; and Square Register which combines its hardware, point-of-sale software and payment technology, as well as managed payment solutions.
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Want to see which other hedge funds hold SQs? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ – Get a rating).
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