Convergence Investment Partners LLC Invests $369,000 in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,769 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sargent Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at $291,000. Golden State Equity Partners bought a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at $309,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Block by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 145,365 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,244,000 after purchasing an additional 10,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter worth about $882,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $74.48 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 438.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.55. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.39 and a 200 day moving average of $67.40.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SQ. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.67.

Block 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.