Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 6,396 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Wedbush Securities Inc. trimmed its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 28.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,094 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 6,396 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $1,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Block in the first quarter worth $33,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Block in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Block during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $61.39 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.59. 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 has a market cap of $37.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SQ shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, New Street Research initiated coverage on Block in a report on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.93.

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.