B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,695 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,132 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 843.2% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Block by 67,500.0% during the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Block during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in Block during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Block during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.73, for a total transaction of $9,238,128.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 485,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,177,410.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.73, for a total transaction of $9,238,128.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 485,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,177,410.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 247,739 shares of company stock worth $18,584,747. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.59.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:SQ opened at $62.73 on Friday. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $68.87 and a 200-day moving average of $71.70. The firm has a market cap of $38.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.54.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.32. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.75 billion. Analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share 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.