Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,192 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 31,957 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Block were worth $11,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Block by 89.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Block by 67,500.0% during the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Block by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, CNB Bank increased its holdings in Block by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,046 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SQ. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.67.

Block Trading Up 5.0 %

NYSE:SQ opened at $75.21 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.81. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $46.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 421.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 2.55.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted 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 net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Equities analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175 in the last three months. 10.79% of the stock is 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.