LGT Group Foundation Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

LGT Group Foundation bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,412 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $528,996,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of Block by 3,525.7% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,606,269 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $510,995,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720,123 shares during the period. Trivest Advisors Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $157,021,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Block by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,799,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,043 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

SQ stock traded down $1.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.00. 4,385,379 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,847,513. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $37.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.98, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 2.52. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.48.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.75 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. On average, analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 138,173 shares of company stock valued at $9,363,222. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price 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. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.25.

Block 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.