Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ – Get Rating) by 5.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 833,710 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 43,352 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Block were worth $46,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Decatur Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 11.1% in the first quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,783 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 1st quarter worth about $387,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Block by 67.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,804 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 4,364 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Block by 54.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 39,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after acquiring an additional 13,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in Block by 58.7% during the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 144,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,893,000 after acquiring an additional 53,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

SQ stock opened at $75.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.49. The firm has a market cap of $45.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -79.04 and a beta of 2.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.85. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.34 and a 1 year high of $149.00.

Block (NYSE:SQ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The technology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.07). Block had a negative net margin of 3.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.28%. The firm had revenue of $4.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SQ shares. Mizuho upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $80.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Block from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total transaction of $66,336.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 46,892 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,217.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.05, for a total transaction of $1,738,987.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,164,283.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total transaction of $66,336.96. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 46,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,014,217.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 241,823 shares of company stock worth $18,039,979 in the last quarter. 11.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Block

(Get Rating)

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.