Natixis Advisors L.P. Has $37.87 Million Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Natixis Advisors L.P. reduced its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 489,575 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 23,010 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned about 0.08% of Block worth $37,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 276,975 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,259,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 83,911 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,714,000 after buying an additional 7,507 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,171 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 1,562 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 154,987 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,860,000 after buying an additional 7,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $434,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.47. The stock had a trading volume of 28,948,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,617,495. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.83. The firm has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.20, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.57.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total transaction of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,231,257.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585 in the last 90 days. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on SQ shares. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.42.

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.