Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Holdings Lifted by ARK Investment Management LLC

ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000,514 shares during the quarter. Block accounts for approximately 5.4% of ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. ARK Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.94% of Block worth $919,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth approximately $353,954,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in Block in the third quarter valued at $172,001,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Block by 104.0% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,623,037 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $241,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,189 shares in the last quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 50.5% in the second quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC now owns 4,685,391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $311,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter valued at $86,561,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of SQ opened at $83.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 492.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 2.55. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 3,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $228,465.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 209,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,432,684. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,056 shares of company stock valued at $18,407,064 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $93.00) on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, December 5th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.69.

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.