Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Has $384,000 Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 53.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,757 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 6,643 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in Block by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 102,588 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,886,000 after purchasing an additional 15,500 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $338,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Block by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,690,075 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $581,923,000 after purchasing an additional 133,002 shares during the last quarter. Conway Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $287,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Block by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 33,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 3,086 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.75.

Block Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $91.96 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $81.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.50. 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 firm has a market cap of $57.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $272,175.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,097,325. This represents a 3.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,918 shares of company stock valued at $2,666,147 in the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Block Company 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.