Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Stock Holdings Increased by &Partners

&Partners raised its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,641 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the period. &Partners’ holdings in Block were worth $731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,799,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,043 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Block by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,513,788 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,942,000 after purchasing an additional 212,218 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,514 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after purchasing an additional 75,161 shares during the period. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,982,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $694,735,000 after purchasing an additional 71,735 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.73, for a total transaction of $9,238,128.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 485,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,177,410.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.73, for a total transaction of $9,238,128.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 485,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,177,410.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 247,739 shares of company stock worth $18,584,747. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SQ shares. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, April 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.59.

Block Stock Performance

SQ opened at $62.97 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $38.86 billion, a PE ratio of 81.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 2.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $68.59 and a 200-day moving average of $71.76. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.75 billion. Block had a return on equity of 2.04% and a net margin of 2.18%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.