Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,547 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 616 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Block by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 5,381 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Block by 38.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in Block by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 57,232 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,427,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Block from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.67.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total value of $328,762.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares in the company, valued at $15,231,257.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $72.25 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.86. The company has a market capitalization of $44.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 442.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.55. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. Analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.