Kovack Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 14.4% 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 3,352 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 422 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 67,500.0% during the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SQ. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 599,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,695,429. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 shares of the 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 directly owns 282,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,158,456.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 599,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,695,429. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 126,889 shares of company stock valued at $8,621,539 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE SQ opened at $64.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 2.52. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. Equities research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS 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.