Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Sells 763 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lessened its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,153 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 763 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Block in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $353,954,000. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Block by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 10,470,931 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $718,829,000 after buying an additional 1,467,630 shares in the last quarter. Echo Street Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Block by 133.3% in the 4th quarter. Echo Street Capital Management LLC now owns 2,353,238 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $147,877,000 after buying an additional 1,344,567 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Block by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 9,733,484 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $668,204,000 after buying an additional 1,243,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its stake in Block by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,205,524 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $551,252,000 after buying an additional 1,237,427 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.17% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE SQ opened at $54.16 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $51.34 and a one year high of $89.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -123.09 and a beta of 2.34.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Block had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a negative return on equity of 0.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post -0.26 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Block from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,431 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.84, for a total value of $363,008.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 310,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,758,498.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Block news, Director Lawrence Henry Summers sold 3,669 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.46, for a total transaction of $295,207.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,611 shares in the company, valued at $1,497,441.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.84, for a total value of $363,008.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 310,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,758,498.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,200 shares of company stock valued at $2,310,864. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.