Bank of New Hampshire Cuts Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Bank of New Hampshire lowered its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 76.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,690 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,595 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Block were worth $144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Block by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,200 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Block by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,787 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,037,000 after purchasing an additional 14,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $87.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $87.84 and its 200-day moving average is $73.65. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.00 and a 12-month high of $99.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $237,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,088,560. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 195,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Block from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. 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 research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.77.

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.