Bamco Inc. NY Has $36.38 Million Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 430,091 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,048 shares during the quarter. Bamco Inc. NY owned approximately 0.07% of Block worth $36,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Block during the first quarter worth about $311,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Block during the first quarter worth about $63,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Block during the first quarter worth about $21,145,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Block during the first quarter worth about $248,000. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP boosted its holdings in Block by 1.7% during the first quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 457,730 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,715,000 after buying an additional 7,730 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $91,070.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $367,345.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 599,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,695,429. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $91,070.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 138,173 shares of company stock valued at $9,363,222 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE SQ traded down $1.40 on Friday, reaching $60.18. The stock had a trading volume of 11,388,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,080,625. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.45. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The company has a market cap of $37.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.32. Block had a return on equity of 2.04% and a net margin of 2.18%. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.75 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, William Blair upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.64.

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.