Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Sold by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. lowered its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 20.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,302 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 606 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Block were worth $155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position 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 valued at $650,396,000 after buying an additional 3,163,975 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Block by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,799,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,043 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its holdings in Block by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its position in Block by 76.7% during the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,831,342 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,103,000 after acquiring an additional 795,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 1,061.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 657,667 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,413,000 after purchasing an additional 601,020 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 255,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,007.75. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,742,652.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, June 24th. New Street Research began coverage on Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.79.

Block Price Performance

SQ opened at $69.70 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.43. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $42.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

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.