Arizona State Retirement System Has $10.38 Million Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 160,950 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Block were worth $10,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $30,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at $5,715,608.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $61.24 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.28 and a 200-day moving average of $69.72. The company has a market cap of $37.79 billion, a PE ratio of 79.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.52.

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.