New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 95.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 471,469 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 9,526,961 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.08% of Block worth $36,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Block by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Block by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 59,069 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,614,000 after purchasing an additional 17,501 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Block by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 113,235 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lane Generational LLC lifted its stake in shares of Block by 40.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lane Generational LLC now owns 72,094 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,191,000 after purchasing an additional 20,796 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $353,942.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 477,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,424,308.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $165,958.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 201,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $353,942.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 477,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,424,308.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175. 10.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $74.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $45.57 billion, a PE ratio of 442.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. On average, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SQ shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.67.

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.