Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Stake Decreased by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ – Get Rating) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 912,979 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,412 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.15% of Block worth $50,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 3.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,781,540 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,857,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,425 shares in the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Block by 7.7% during the second quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 16,450,950 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,011,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,222 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Block by 5.7% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,702,025 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $780,667,000 after buying an additional 686,870 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Block by 1.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 8,357,966 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $459,605,000 after buying an additional 94,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Block by 6.9% in the second quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,637,074 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $407,915,000 after buying an additional 426,204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Block from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Oppenheimer cut Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.62.

Block Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $75.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.21 billion, a PE ratio of -79.04 and a beta of 2.35. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.34 and a 1 year high of $149.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $76.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Block (NYSE:SQ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The technology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $4.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Block had a negative return on equity of 2.28% and a negative net margin of 3.11%. Analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,032 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total value of $66,336.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 46,892 shares in the company, valued at $3,014,217.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Block news, insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.30, for a total transaction of $2,378,443.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 418,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,362,959.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,032 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total transaction of $66,336.96. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 46,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,217.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 241,823 shares of company stock worth $18,039,979. Corporate insiders own 11.52% of the company’s stock.

Block Profile

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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.