GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 17.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $95,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth about $528,996,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Block by 3,525.7% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $459,072,000 after acquiring an additional 5,771,310 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at $172,001,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in Block in the fourth quarter worth $157,021,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Block by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,799,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,043 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $7,679,410.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,796,849.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $483,712.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,158,456.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 247,739 shares of company stock valued at $18,584,747 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.59.

Block Stock Performance

SQ stock opened at $62.97 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The firm has a market cap of $38.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.78, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 2.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.73.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.32. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.