Benjamin Edwards Inc. Decreases Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. decreased its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,069 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 244 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $69,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Block during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in Block during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth about $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $67.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.24 and a 200-day moving average of $68.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 580,086 shares in the company, valued at $37,572,170.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,572,170.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.34.

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.