Prospera Financial Services Inc Raises Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,498 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Block were worth $571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Block by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,891,000 after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Block by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $72,709,000 after buying an additional 128,832 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in Block by 1.5% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $686,948,000 after acquiring an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in Block by 13.9% during the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 2.7% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,969,000 after purchasing an additional 14,163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 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 transaction of $237,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,088,560. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,283 shares of company stock worth $862,773. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.18.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:SQ opened at $92.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.83, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 2.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.10. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $94.12.

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.