Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Bought by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 42.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 679,363 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 201,921 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Block were worth $57,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SQ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at $528,996,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Block by 3,525.7% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,072,000 after buying an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in Block by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,606,269 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $510,995,000 after buying an additional 2,720,123 shares during the period. Trivest Advisors Ltd purchased a new position in Block during the fourth quarter worth about $157,021,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Block by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,799,505,000 after buying an additional 1,277,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ traded up $1.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $65.78. The stock had a trading volume of 5,390,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,518,187. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $40.59 billion, a PE ratio of 85.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 2.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.28.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.32. Block had a return on equity of 2.04% and a net margin of 2.18%. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.75 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $91,070.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $7,679,410.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,796,849.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $91,070.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 93,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,651,194.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,526 shares of company stock worth $9,111,866. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SQ. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.13.

Block Company 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.