Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC Makes New $17.96 Million Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 232,142 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $17,956,000. Block makes up 4.7% of Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Decatur Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,783 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter valued at about $387,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $228,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Block by 31.3% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 25,320 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 6,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter valued at about $516,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SQ traded down $3.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $73.52. 7,955,143 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,238,734. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 452.88, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.55. The business's fifty day moving average price is $76.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. On average, research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SQ. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Block from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Block from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Block from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.41.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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