Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Trims Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 44.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,281 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 153,428 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Block were worth $12,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Block by 843.2% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $91,070.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $483,712.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,886 shares in the company, valued at $20,158,456.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $91,070.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 93,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,651,194.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,005 shares of company stock worth $1,714,751. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:SQ traded up $1.62 on Friday, hitting $65.87. The company had a trading volume of 5,486,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,329,821. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.55, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $63.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.92. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The firm's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.20.

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.