Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Holdings Lifted by River Global Investors LLP

River Global Investors LLP increased its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 34.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,554 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,803 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Block were worth $1,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,222,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,112,000 after acquiring an additional 115,132 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its stake in Block by 1.5% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 261,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Block in the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Block by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,373,857 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,807,000 after purchasing an additional 190,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth about $359,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,318.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SQ. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.42.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ stock traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 28,948,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,617,495. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.33. The company has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.22, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 2.57. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. On average, research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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.