V Square Quantitative Management LLC Takes Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 689 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Block by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,088,122,000 after purchasing an additional 318,549 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Block by 4.7% in the 1st 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 period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $650,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Block by 17.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,143,000 after buying an additional 326,444 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $74.66 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $46.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.12. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52.

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. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.79.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction of $30,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,715,608.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction of $30,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at $5,715,608.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

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.