Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Purchased by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 526,501 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,107 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.09% of Block worth $33,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Block in the 4th quarter valued at $528,996,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted 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 last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in Block by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,606,269 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $510,995,000 after acquiring an additional 2,720,123 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,277,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Capital Management LLP lifted its stake in Block by 244.1% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Capital Management LLP now owns 1,706,691 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210,758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the business’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 $30,318.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,784.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SQ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. William Blair raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. One research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.34.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $65.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The company has a market cap of $40.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.22. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52.

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