Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Stock Holdings Reduced by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,555 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 666 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in Block by 1.3% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its holdings in Block by 7.2% in the first quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 2,300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 25.4% in the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. CAP Partners LLC increased its position in Block by 3.5% during the first quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Block by 17.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.31.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,714 shares of company stock valued at $1,812,932 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 0.5 %

SQ opened at $69.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.45, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.74. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal 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.