River Global Investors LLP Raises Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

River Global Investors LLP lifted its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 34.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,554 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,803 shares during the quarter. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Block were worth $1,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 805 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in Block by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 616 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Block by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 5,381 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $165,958.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 477,469 shares of company stock worth $34,963,585 over the last ninety days. 10.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Trading Down 1.2 %

SQ stock traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.47. 28,948,341 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,617,495. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $77.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a PE ratio of 90.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 2.07% and a net margin of 2.18%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.42.

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.