Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Purchases 196,645 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 2,281.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,266 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 196,645 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $15,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Block by 67,500.0% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 38.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the third quarter worth about $44,000. CNB Bank increased its holdings in shares of Block by 40.2% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,046 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 72.3% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 610 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of SQ traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.47. 28,948,341 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,617,495. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.83. The stock has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a PE ratio of 90.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.57. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 2.07% and a net margin of 2.18%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. BTIG Research raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

About Block

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.