Symmetry Partners LLC Invests $270,000 in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Symmetry Partners LLC acquired a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 3,187 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,936,000. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Block by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 29,065 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,286,000 after buying an additional 16,703 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth $359,000. Interchange Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,215 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,222,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,112,000 after purchasing an additional 115,132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $483,712.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 282,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,158,456.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 247,739 shares of company stock valued at $18,584,747 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 1.0 %

SQ traded down $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $61.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,109,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,411,432. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.85. 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 stock has a market cap of $38.19 billion, a PE ratio of 80.96, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.54.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.75 billion. Block had a return on equity of 2.04% and a net margin of 2.18%. On average, analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.59.

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.