Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) is SIH Partners LLLP’s 2nd Largest Position

SIH Partners LLLP increased its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 68.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 337,149 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 137,129 shares during the quarter. Block accounts for about 21.0% of SIH Partners LLLP’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. SIH Partners LLLP owned 0.05% of Block worth $21,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,088,122,000 after buying an additional 318,549 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Block by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,107,712,000 after purchasing an additional 582,826 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Block by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,089,000 after buying an additional 87,826 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SQ. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at $6,443,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total transaction of $430,966.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,125,895.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Up 0.7 %

SQ stock opened at $66.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.24 billion, a PE ratio of 86.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.76.

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