Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Decreases Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. trimmed its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,500 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,300 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.'s holdings in Block were worth $14,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bares Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,251 shares of the technology company's stock worth $347,089,000 after buying an additional 87,826 shares during the period. Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth $157,021,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,799,505,000 after buying an additional 1,277,043 shares during the period. &PARTNERS boosted its holdings in Block by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 8,641 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in Block in the 4th quarter valued at $1,184,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. William Blair raised shares of Block to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Macquarie reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $30,318.27. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,784.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at $38,027,285.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962 in the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Block Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE SQ traded up $1.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $65.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,618,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,718,805. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $63.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.89. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The stock has a market cap of $40.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Block's quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.