Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Purchased by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 2,189.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,974 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,879 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $3,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SQ. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Vima LLC acquired a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was 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 approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE SQ opened at $67.46 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $64.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. William Blair raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.34.

Block Company Profile

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.