Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,556 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 248 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Block by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 616 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Block by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Block by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 5,381 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Block by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Block by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 57,232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,427,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.67.

Block Price Performance

SQ stock opened at $75.21 on Wednesday. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.81. The firm has a market cap of $46.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 421.18, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 2.55.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total transaction of $328,762.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,231,257.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175 in the last quarter. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.