Semanteon Capital Management LP Lowers Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Semanteon Capital Management LP trimmed its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,065 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 917 shares during the quarter. Block comprises approximately 0.8% of Semanteon Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Semanteon Capital Management LP’s holdings in Block were worth $1,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Block by 165.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 453,545 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,446,000 after buying an additional 282,550 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Block by 2.7% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 34,899 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,952,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Block by 194.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,642 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,851,000 after buying an additional 69,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the first quarter worth $1,121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $73.86. 314,978 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,961,969. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $67.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The company has a market capitalization of $45.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, July 26th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.79.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the purchase, the director now owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932 over the last quarter. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

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.