Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Decreases Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc trimmed its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,825 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 296 shares during the quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s holdings in Block were worth $2,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $443,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Block by 10.1% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 526,501 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,954,000 after buying an additional 48,107 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 196,456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,669,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Block by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 266,067 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,159,000 after acquiring an additional 13,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 14,168 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $82.45 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $88.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.36. The company has a market capitalization of $51.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51. 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.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,981 shares of company stock valued at $2,681,185. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Block from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.35.

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.