Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $3.26 Million Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,189 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Block were worth $3,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,915,658 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,545,367,000 after purchasing an additional 585,801 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Block by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $919,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,514 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after purchasing an additional 75,161 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 3,525.7% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 0.3% in the third quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,399,425 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $194,719,000 after buying an additional 11,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE SQ traded down $1.93 on Tuesday, reaching $71.60. The company had a trading volume of 6,564,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,145,699. The company’s fifty day moving average is $77.61 and its 200-day moving average is $68.53. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.55.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $165,958.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 201,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’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 directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585. 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.