Optimum Investment Advisors Has $55,000 Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Optimum Investment Advisors lowered its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 54.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 650 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 775 shares during the quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Block were worth $55,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,799,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,043 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Block by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,513,788 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,942,000 after acquiring an additional 212,218 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $919,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,514 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $802,736,000 after acquiring an additional 75,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,982,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $694,735,000 after acquiring an additional 71,735 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.59.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.73, for a total value of $9,238,128.18. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 485,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,177,410.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $483,712.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,158,456.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.73, for a total transaction of $9,238,128.18. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 485,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,177,410.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 247,739 shares of company stock valued at $18,584,747 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $62.97 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.78, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 2.54. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.75 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.