Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Has $17.50 Million Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lowered its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 271,289 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 15,190 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Block were worth $17,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bares Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Block by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,089,000 after buying an additional 87,826 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Block by 3.7% in 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 buying an additional 1,277,043 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS grew its stake in Block by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 8,641 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,184,000. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,487,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,572,170.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,784.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the sale, the insider now owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,572,170.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

SQ stock opened at $67.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.05. The company has a market capitalization of $41.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.62, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.49. 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 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SQ. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.34.

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.