Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Purchased by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,286 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Block by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,088,122,000 after purchasing an additional 318,549 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Block by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,107,712,000 after buying an additional 582,826 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Block by 1.5% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,948,000 after buying an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Block by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,143,000 after acquiring an additional 326,444 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total value of $430,966.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 264,697 shares in the company, valued at $17,125,895.90. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total transaction of $90,968.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,960 shares in the company, valued at $5,885,112. The trade was a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,678 shares of company stock worth $1,924,112. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.30.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $84.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.48. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $90.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.33.

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.