Andra AP fonden Buys 137,500 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Andra AP fonden boosted its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 414.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,700 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 137,500 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden's holdings in Block were worth $11,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,088,122,000 after buying an additional 318,549 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Block by 4.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 582,826 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in Block by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company's stock worth $650,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $694,735,000 after acquiring an additional 71,735 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $528,996,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

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 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 at the SEC website. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of Block stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total transaction of $430,966.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 264,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,125,895.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.93.

Block Price Performance

SQ traded up $1.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.36. The stock had a trading volume of 5,826,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,484,466. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.16 and a 200 day moving average of $69.59. The company has a market cap of $39.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Block Company 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.