Benin Management CORP decreased its stake in Square, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 14.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,900 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP’s holdings in Square were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Square during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $910,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Square by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 19,810 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Square by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,122,838 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,302,000 after buying an additional 44,331 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in Square by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 25,231 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 6,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in Square by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 18,680 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 727 shares in the last quarter. 75.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Square, Inc. (NYSE SQ) traded down 0.04% on Friday, hitting $25.21. 8,209,666 shares of the stock traded hands. The stock’s market cap is $9.49 billion. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $24.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.56. Square, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.01 and a 12-month high of $27.97. Square also was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 15,478 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 273% compared to the average volume of 4,147 call options.
Square (NYSE:SQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The technology company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $240 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $228.64 million. Square had a negative return on equity of 12.41% and a negative net margin of 4.13%. The company’s revenue was up 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Square, Inc. will post $0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.
SQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group cut shares of Square from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Square to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of Square in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Square in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity upped their price objective on shares of Square from $18.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Square presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.61.
In other news, CFO Sarah Friar sold 19,200 shares of Square stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.25, for a total transaction of $504,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 368,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,680,763.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James Morgan Jr. Mckelvey sold 90,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.36, for a total value of $2,102,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 186,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,352,154.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 914,900 shares of company stock worth $20,202,610 in the last three months. 32.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Square Company Profile
Square, Inc (Square) is a commerce ecosystem. The Company enables its sellers start, run and grow their businesses. It combines software with hardware to enable sellers to turn mobile devices and computing devices into payments and point-of-sale solutions. Once a seller downloads the Square Point of Sale mobile application, they can take their first payment.
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