IFM Investors Pty Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,276 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Block were worth $7,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Block by 45.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Block by 76.7% in the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,831,342 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,103,000 after acquiring an additional 795,000 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Block by 1,061.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 657,667 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,413,000 after acquiring an additional 601,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Block by 4.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,107,712,000 after acquiring an additional 582,826 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,742,652.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,214 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,932 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Up 0.1 %

Block stock opened at $72.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.30, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. Block’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share 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.