Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Acquired by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 276.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,530 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,340 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Block were worth $1,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,088,122,000 after purchasing an additional 318,549 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,107,712,000 after purchasing an additional 582,826 shares in the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,982,862 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $694,735,000 after purchasing an additional 71,735 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in Block by 16.6% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,921,254 shares of the technology company's stock worth $585,400,000 after acquiring an additional 986,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Block in the fourth quarter worth approximately $528,996,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction of $30,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,715,608.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction of $30,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at $5,715,608.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,784 shares of company stock valued at $772,623 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Performance

SQ traded down $1.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $63.84. The stock had a trading volume of 4,764,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,737,939. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.79, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52. The company's 50-day moving average price is $63.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.90. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SQ shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.20.

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.

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