Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,442 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 35,828 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $4,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 85.3% during the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of SQ opened at $89.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.19 billion, a PE ratio of 50.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.76 and its 200 day moving average is $68.32. 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 fifty-two week low of $55.00 and a fifty-two week high of $94.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total transaction of $609,015.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 246,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,580,192.81. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,053 shares of company stock valued at $2,393,972 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.46.

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.