Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 31,957 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 28.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,192 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,957 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Block were worth $11,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,915,658 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,545,367,000 after purchasing an additional 585,801 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after purchasing an additional 75,161 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of Block by 3,525.7% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $459,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,399,425 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $194,719,000 after purchasing an additional 11,376 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of SQ opened at $75.21 on Wednesday. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $77.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.81. The stock has a market cap of $46.31 billion, a PE ratio of 421.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 2.55.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its earnings results 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $165,958.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 201,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175 in the last 90 days. 10.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.