Optimum Investment Advisors Reduces Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Optimum Investment Advisors cut its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 54.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 650 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 775 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Block were worth $55,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 17.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Block by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 805 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in Block by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 616 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in Block by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, WP Advisors LLC grew its position in Block by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 5,381 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SQ. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down from $62.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.59.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $62.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.73. The firm has a market cap of $38.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.78, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 2.54. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.32. Block had a return on equity of 2.04% and a net margin of 2.18%. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.75 billion. Analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $367,345.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 599,150 shares in the company, valued at $42,695,429. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $367,345.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 599,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,695,429. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total value of $328,762.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,231,257.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 247,739 shares of company stock valued at $18,584,747 over the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.