Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Decreases Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd decreased its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,117 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,205 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Block were worth $3,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $1,545,367,000 after buying an additional 585,801 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $919,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $802,736,000 after purchasing an additional 75,161 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,399,425 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $194,719,000 after purchasing an additional 11,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on SQ shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.67.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $71.61 on Tuesday. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week 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. The company has a market cap of $44.09 billion, a PE ratio of 414.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 2.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.58.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Block

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.