Acadian Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 6,880 Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,880 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Block by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,088,122,000 after purchasing an additional 318,549 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,107,712,000 after acquiring an additional 582,826 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position in Block by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,606,269 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $510,995,000 after acquiring an additional 2,720,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Block by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,089,000 after acquiring an additional 87,826 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total value of $430,966.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,697 shares in the company, valued at $17,125,895.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:SQ opened at $66.77 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.11. The stock has a market cap of $41.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SQ shares. New Street Research initiated coverage on Block in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.34.

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.