Intech Investment Management LLC Has $4.34 Million Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,316 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 129,014 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $4,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Block by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,088,122,000 after buying an additional 318,549 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Block by 4.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,107,712,000 after acquiring an additional 582,826 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in Block by 45.7% during the second 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 period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in Block by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,606,269 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $510,995,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 87,826 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on SQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.34.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the sale, the insider now owns 590,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,027,285.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $67.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $41.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The company’s fifty day moving average is $64.24 and its 200 day moving average is $69.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current 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.