abrdn plc Purchases 94,537 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

abrdn plc lifted its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 101.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 187,858 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,537 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Block were worth $14,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Block by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 616 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Block by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Block by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Block by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 57,232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,427,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $74.02 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.86. The stock has a market cap of $45.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 442.41, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. As a group, analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the business’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 directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total transaction of $328,762.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,231,257.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated 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 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 have sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175 over the last quarter. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SQ shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. BTIG Research raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.67.

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.