Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Reduces Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,310 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Block were worth $1,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 610 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 616 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 89.6% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 67,500.0% in the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 38.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total value of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,231,257.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Up 3.7 %

SQ stock traded up $2.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.47. 1,662,376 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,765,254. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $77.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.90. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.47 billion, a PE ratio of 435.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 2.55.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly 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 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wolfe Research lifted 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.67.

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.