IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Grows Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 137.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,140 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,705 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's holdings in Block were worth $525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Block in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of Block stock in a transaction 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 approximately $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock traded down $0.35 on Friday, hitting $66.07. 5,847,328 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,615,271. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.79. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a PE ratio of 85.81, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SQ. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.52.

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.