Carson Advisory Inc. Has $382,000 Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Carson Advisory Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,940 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 645 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of Block by 3,525.7% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 3rd quarter valued at $172,001,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Block by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,683,346 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,925 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Block by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Block by 396.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,228,886 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,390,000 after purchasing an additional 981,320 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175. Insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ traded up $3.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $70.30. 17,379,160 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,961,782. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.77 and a 200-day moving average of $67.82. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The firm has a market cap of $43.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 429.41, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.