Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Buys Shares of 11,401 Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,401 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $882,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,222,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,112,000 after acquiring an additional 115,132 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its position in shares of Block by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 261,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,565,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at $213,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Block by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,373,857 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,807,000 after acquiring an additional 190,400 shares during the period. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $359,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report 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 report on Wednesday, April 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.67.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $74.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $45.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 438.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.26. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52.

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

Insider Activity

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the firm’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 completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $165,958.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 201,754 shares in the company, valued at $12,972,782.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 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 sale, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175. Corporate 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.