21,058 Shares in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Acquired by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,058 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,358,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SQ. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $66.49 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.94 and a 200 day moving average of $68.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.03 billion, a PE ratio of 86.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. William Blair raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. 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 report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $57.55 per share, with a total value 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. Insiders sold a total of 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962 over the last three months. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

About Block

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.