Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Buys 75,161 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,377,973 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 75,161 shares during the period. Block accounts for 0.6% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 1.69% of Block worth $802,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of Block by 3,525.7% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at $353,954,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at $172,001,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Block by 72.8% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $919,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ traded down $3.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.99. 6,190,596 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,655,994. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.40 billion, a PE ratio of 452.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The business's 50 day moving average price is $76.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.34.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,318.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 quarter, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SQ shares. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.41.

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.