Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lessened its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,718,186 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 32,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Block worth $132,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Block by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,915,658 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,545,367,000 after purchasing an additional 585,801 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in Block by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in Block by 0.7% in the 4th 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. raised its position in Block by 3,525.7% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $459,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Block by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,399,425 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $194,719,000 after buying an additional 11,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total value of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,231,257.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 shares were 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 directly 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SQ shares. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.42.

Block Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Block stock opened at $69.47 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $77.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.83. 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 P/E ratio of 90.20, a PEG 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.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 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 company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

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.