Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Stake Boosted by Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,982,862 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 71,735 shares during the period. Block comprises 6.7% of Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned about 1.46% of Block worth $694,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Block during the third quarter valued at $641,000. Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its position in shares of Block by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 8,154 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Block by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 18,719 shares of the technology company's stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Block by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the technology company's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 108.0% during the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,528 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 6,506 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.59.

Block Stock Up 0.7 %

SQ traded up $0.53 on Friday, reaching $72.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,962,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,815,545. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $44.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 2.04% and a net margin of 2.18%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 at this link. In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 477,469 shares of company stock worth $34,963,585. 10.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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