Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Purchased by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,168 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Block were worth $914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SQ. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Vima LLC acquired a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Block in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $67.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $41.54 billion, a PE ratio of 87.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.13. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced 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 business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at $25,000,007.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on SQ shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. William Blair raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.34.

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.