Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Acquired by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 28.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,026 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,769 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $1,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $3,088,122,000 after buying an additional 318,549 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Block by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,107,712,000 after acquiring an additional 582,826 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in Block by 45.7% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its holdings 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. grew its position in shares of Block by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,089,000 after purchasing an additional 87,826 shares during 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 equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. 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 research note on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.34.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.57, for a total transaction of $76,355.79. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 271,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,066,698.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.57, for a total transaction of $76,355.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 271,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,066,698.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,542 shares of company stock valued at $1,343,635. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:SQ opened at $67.12 on Tuesday. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The company has a market cap of $41.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.35.

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

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.