Sei Investments Co. Sells 346,829 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Sei Investments Co. trimmed its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 65.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,606 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 346,829 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Block were worth $11,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc raised its position in shares of Block by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 2,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 765 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. CAP Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Block by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Block by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,458 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, New Street Research started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of Block stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Up 0.7 %

SQ opened at $66.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued 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. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 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.