Quest Partners LLC Purchases 7,520 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 1,307.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,095 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,520 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at $454,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Block by 1,831.5% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 57,191 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,688,000 after purchasing an additional 54,230 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $443,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in Block by 392.7% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 877 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Block by 6.6% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 272,311 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,561,000 after buying an additional 16,751 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $121,594.93. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at $38,027,285.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:SQ opened at $63.69 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.51. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The stock has a market cap of $39.30 billion, a PE ratio of 82.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.34.

Block 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.