GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 83.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,325 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,799,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,043 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Block by 13.9% during the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after buying an additional 934,588 shares during the period. &PARTNERS lifted its holdings in Block by 8.3% during the first quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 8,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 659 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth $2,487,000. Finally, Duality Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Block by 2.7% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 34,899 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,952,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Macquarie restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.31.

Block Trading Down 0.5 %

SQ stock opened at $69.70 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The firm has a market cap of $43.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.52, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,443,360. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $6,443,360. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,714 shares of company stock valued at $1,812,932. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.