ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Increases Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,771 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,613 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $9,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Korea Investment CORP lifted its stake in shares of Block by 222.9% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 460,040 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,361,000 after purchasing an additional 317,577 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,936,000. Pearl River Capital LLC raised its position in Block by 125.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 52,223 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,311,000 after purchasing an additional 29,068 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in Block by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 29,065 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 16,703 shares during the period. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in Block in the third quarter worth about $359,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $42,375.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 603,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 247,739 shares of company stock worth $18,584,747. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ traded down $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $61.90. The company had a trading volume of 7,167,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,411,924. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.85. 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 capitalization of $38.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.54.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.75 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.