4,324 Shares in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Purchased by Malaga Cove Capital LLC

Malaga Cove Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,324 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Block by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,915,658 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,545,367,000 after buying an additional 585,801 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Block by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $919,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,514 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after purchasing an additional 75,161 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Block by 3,525.7% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $459,072,000 after buying an additional 5,771,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Block by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,399,425 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $194,719,000 after buying an additional 11,376 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 603,861 shares in the company, valued at $40,796,849.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,796,849.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. 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 90 days. Insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Block from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.42.

Block Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:SQ traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.47. The stock had a trading volume of 28,948,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,617,495. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.57. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.83.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Block had a return on equity of 2.07% and a net margin of 2.18%. Equities analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

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.