Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Increases Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,252 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $1,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SQ. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Block during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Block during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in Block during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in Block during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $91,070.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares in the company, valued at $6,651,194.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $91,070.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares in the company, valued at $6,651,194.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 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 $483,712.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,158,456.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,505 shares of company stock worth $1,683,811 in the last three months. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.25.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE SQ traded up $1.78 on Wednesday, hitting $61.87. 6,808,847 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,857,971. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $64.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.18 billion, a PE ratio of 80.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.32. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

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.