Qsemble Capital Management LP Increases Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 628.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,940 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,457 shares during the quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP's holdings in Block were worth $2,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the first quarter worth $28,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $63.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,776,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,457,761. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.71, a PEG 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SQ. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,007.75. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the transaction, the insider now 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

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.