Achmea Investment Management B.V. Purchases 2,000 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,223 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Block were worth $7,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Block by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,088,122,000 after purchasing an additional 318,549 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Block by 4.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,107,712,000 after buying an additional 582,826 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in Block by 45.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $650,396,000 after buying an additional 3,163,975 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $528,996,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in Block by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,606,269 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $510,995,000 after acquiring an additional 2,720,123 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of SQ stock opened at $63.69 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.51. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.72, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released 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 return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SQ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,572,170.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $30,318.27. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962 in the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.