The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,465 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Block were worth $2,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $600,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $2,572,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $397,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth $1,358,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. increased its stake in shares of Block by 180.5% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 71,333 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,292,000 after buying an additional 45,900 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on SQ shares. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. William Blair upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.31.

Block Stock Performance

SQ stock opened at $68.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.11 billion, a PE ratio of 88.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.81.

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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,443,360. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the purchase, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,714 shares of company stock valued at $1,812,932. 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.