Meeder Asset Management Inc. Buys 40,018 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 44,464.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,108 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 40,018 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $2,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $63.69 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.21 billion, a PE ratio of 82.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,977,784.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.