Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $3.54 Million Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 12.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,746 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Block were worth $3,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,163,975 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake in Block by 13.9% in 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. boosted its position in Block by 76.7% during the 2nd 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. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Block by 1,061.0% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 657,667 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,413,000 after acquiring an additional 601,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,107,712,000 after purchasing an additional 582,826 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on SQ. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.79.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $74.66 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.12. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $87.52. The stock has a market cap of $46.07 billion, a PE ratio of 96.96, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 2.49. 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 (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,742,652.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $30,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at $5,715,608.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,214 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,932. 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.