Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 266,067 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,649 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $17,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in Block by 45.7% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $650,396,000 after buying an additional 3,163,975 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its holdings in Block by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,606,269 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $510,995,000 after buying an additional 2,720,123 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 3.7% during the fourth 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 period. Gladstone Capital Management LLP increased its holdings in Block by 244.1% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Capital Management LLP now owns 1,706,691 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $132,013,000 after buying an additional 1,210,758 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,533,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total transaction of $430,966.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 264,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,125,895.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,406 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total transaction of $90,968.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,885,112. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total transaction of $430,966.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,125,895.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQ has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Macquarie restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.34.

Block Stock Up 0.5 %

SQ opened at $67.82 on Tuesday. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.08, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.49.

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

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.