Van ECK Associates Corp Has $24.97 Million Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 40.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 387,118 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 111,385 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Block worth $24,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the technology company's stock worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its position in shares of Block by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 2,300 shares of the technology company's stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 765 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Block by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CAP Partners LLC raised its holdings in Block by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the business's 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Block stock traded down $0.34 on Friday, reaching $66.08. The stock had a trading volume of 5,850,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,763,630. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SQ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. William Blair upgraded Block to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.52.

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.