3,843 Shares in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Purchased by Valeo Financial Advisors LLC

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,843 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Block by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,915,658 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,545,367,000 after purchasing an additional 585,801 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 3,525.7% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,072,000 after acquiring an additional 5,771,310 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,685,675 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $389,576,000 after acquiring an additional 189,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth $353,954,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SQ. BTIG Research raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Block from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.41.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:SQ opened at $73.52 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.39 and its 200-day moving average is $65.55. The company has a market cap of $45.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 452.88, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.55. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total transaction of $328,762.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,231,257.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total transaction of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares in the company, valued at $15,231,257.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175 over the last quarter. 10.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.