J. Stern & Co. LLP Boosts Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 427.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,445 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,325 shares during the period. Block comprises approximately 0.1% of J. Stern & Co. LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. J. Stern & Co. LLP’s holdings in Block were worth $1,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Bares Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 2.0% during 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,799,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,043 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at $1,184,000. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Block in the 1st quarter worth $2,487,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Block stock opened at $67.46 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.63 billion, a PE ratio of 87.61, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 data 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 business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at $6,443,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SQ shares. William Blair raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note 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. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.34.

Block 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.