Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Holdings Lowered by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale cut its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 527,041 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 14,548 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.09% of Block worth $33,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 44,464.4% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,108 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 40,018 shares during the period. Barings LLC purchased a new position in Block in the second quarter worth $405,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its position in Block by 1.7% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 121,223 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its position in Block by 628.4% in the second quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 39,940 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 34,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Block by 10.1% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 526,501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $33,954,000 after acquiring an additional 48,107 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,661 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.70, for a total transaction of $430,966.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 264,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,125,895.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 590,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. 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. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on SQ. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.34.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:SQ traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $63.99. 4,682,930 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,915,317. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.49. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.31.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. On average, analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.