SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 39.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,676 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,472 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $1,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 3.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Block by 1.7% during the 4th 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 boosted its holdings in Block by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,514 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in Block by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after acquiring an additional 75,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 71,735 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $367,345.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 599,150 shares in the company, valued at $42,695,429. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $483,712.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 282,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,158,456.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $367,345.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 599,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,695,429. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 126,889 shares of company stock worth $8,621,539 over the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. KeyCorp lifted 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. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.13.

Block Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Block stock opened at $64.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $39.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.87, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 2.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $67.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52.

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

About Block

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.