Aviance Capital Partners LLC Has $851,000 Stock Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,058 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 965 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Block by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,799,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,043 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Block by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,513,788 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,942,000 after purchasing an additional 212,218 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Block by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after buying an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Block by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $802,736,000 after buying an additional 75,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,982,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $694,735,000 after buying an additional 71,735 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,514 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $353,942.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 477,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,424,308.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total transaction of $353,942.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 477,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,424,308.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $91,070.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 131,403 shares of company stock valued at $8,975,481. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 1.0 %

SQ opened at $63.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.39 billion, a PE ratio of 82.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.57.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on SQ shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. 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 issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.13.

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.