Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Bought by Certuity LLC

Certuity LLC raised its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,591 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the quarter. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $5,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SQ. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Block by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 113,235 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,713 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 0.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 276,975 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,259,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in Block by 8.4% in the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 113,537 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,025,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares during the last quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $231,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Block by 89.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.67.

Block Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE SQ traded down $2.20 on Tuesday, reaching $73.11. 4,419,179 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,693,672. 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 fifty day moving average price is $77.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.01 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 fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $165,958.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175 in the last ninety days. 10.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.