Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Cuts Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 337,927 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,114 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 0.05% of Block worth $21,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. 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 valued at $3,088,122,000 after buying an additional 318,549 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $1,107,712,000 after acquiring an additional 582,826 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,720,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,089,000 after purchasing an additional 87,826 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $67.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.05. 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 capitalization of $41.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The company 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%. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on SQ shares. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.34.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total value of $430,966.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,125,895.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 264,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,125,895.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $30,318.27. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.