Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 55.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,809 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,510 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $1,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Decatur Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Block by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,783 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $387,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at $228,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in Block by 31.3% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 25,320 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after buying an additional 6,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $516,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Benchmark raised their price target on Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $165,958.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,754 shares in the company, valued at $12,972,782.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $70.43 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.75 and a 200-day moving average of $66.04. The company has a market capitalization of $43.36 billion, a PE ratio of 423.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.