Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Acquires 4,296 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 238.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,094 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,296 shares during the period. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in Block were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,000. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $285,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 24,055 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after acquiring an additional 12,916 shares in the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,000. Finally, Clarity Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,695,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,796,849.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares in the company, valued at $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 247,739 shares of company stock valued at $18,584,747. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.15. The company had a trading volume of 4,916,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,343,522. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.54. 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 (NYSE:SQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SQ shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.59.

Block Company 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.