Syon Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Syon Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 11,451 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 10.4% in the third 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. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 261,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,565,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at $213,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Block by 16.1% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,373,857 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,807,000 after acquiring an additional 190,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the third quarter valued at $359,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SQ. Truist Financial increased their target price on Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Block from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.67.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock traded up $1.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $74.48. 4,646,251 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,803,548. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The firm has a market cap of $45.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 435.47, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 2.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $77.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total value of $328,762.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,231,257.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175. 10.79% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.