Twin Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 15,467 Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 15,467 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,196,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 285,005 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $22,045,000 after acquiring an additional 10,833 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Block by 90.3% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,142 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Block by 27,677.8% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $794,000. Finally, Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $379,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.22.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $42,180.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other 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 transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175 in the last quarter. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Block Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:SQ opened at $72.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.36 billion, a PE ratio of 432.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 2.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.85. 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.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.