Huntington National Bank Decreases Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Huntington National Bank cut its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,371 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 649 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Block were worth $92,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Block by 13.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in Block by 1.5% during the 3rd 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 increased 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 buying an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised 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 worth $35,969,000 after acquiring an additional 14,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of Block by 11.5% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 115,900 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,780,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SQ. Oppenheimer began coverage on Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.30.

Block Stock Up 7.8 %

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $90.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.00 and a 1 year high of $91.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.50. The firm has a market cap of $55.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.03, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 2.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares in the company, valued at $37,572,170.22. This represents a 1.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total transaction of $430,966.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,125,895.90. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,678 shares of company stock worth $1,924,112 in the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.