Barings LLC Takes $405,000 Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Barings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,287 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Block during the first quarter worth about $33,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total value of $430,966.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,125,895.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $63.36 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market cap of $39.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 2.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.55.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.34.

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.