abrdn plc Grows Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

abrdn plc grew its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 101.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 187,858 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,537 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Block were worth $14,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SQ. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Block by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 59,069 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,614,000 after acquiring an additional 17,501 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $321,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Block by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 113,235 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares during the period. Finally, Lane Generational LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 40.5% during the third quarter. Lane Generational LLC now owns 72,094 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,191,000 after purchasing an additional 20,796 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:SQ opened at $74.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $45.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 442.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.55. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.86.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total value of $328,762.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,231,257.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total value of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares in the company, valued at $15,231,257.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

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.