Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 44.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,281 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 153,428 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Block were worth $12,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SQ. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in Block during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $483,712.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,886 shares in the company, valued at $20,158,456.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the company’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 owns 93,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,005 shares of company stock valued at $1,714,751. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SQ shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.20.

Block Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Block stock traded up $1.62 on Friday, hitting $65.87. The stock had a trading volume of 5,486,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,329,821. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.91. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $40.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.57, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current 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.