Chicago Capital LLC Has $2.60 Million Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Chicago Capital LLC decreased its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,310 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 835 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $2,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bares Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Block by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,089,000 after buying an additional 87,826 shares during the last quarter. Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter worth about $157,021,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,799,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,043 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS boosted its position in Block by 8.3% during the first quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 8,641 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,184,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 5.2 %

NYSE:SQ traded down $3.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $61.24. 6,448,467 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,070,303. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.55, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.70.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 590,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SQ shares. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.52.

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.