Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 134,699 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 69.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,582 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 134,699 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Block were worth $4,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 0.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Block by 4.7% in the first 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. increased its stake in shares of Block by 45.7% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its stake 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 worth $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Block by 17.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,143,000 after purchasing an additional 326,444 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

Block stock opened at $73.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.17 billion, a PE ratio of 95.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 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 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SQ. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. William Blair upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Macquarie restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total value of $123,232.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,605,124.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $123,232.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,914 shares in the company, valued at $37,605,124.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,214 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,932 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

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.