Procyon Advisors LLC Increases Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,305 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $2,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 266,067 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,159,000 after acquiring an additional 13,649 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Block by 17.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,143,000 after purchasing an additional 326,444 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in Block by 37.6% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 4,833 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Block by 2.8% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 57,947 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Block by 0.5% in the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 50,834 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,278,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $87.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The company has a market cap of $53.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.61 and its 200-day moving average is $74.68.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total value of $253,481.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 88,791 shares in the company, valued at $7,103,280. This trade represents a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,981 shares of company stock worth $2,681,185. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.68.

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.