Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $69,000 Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lessened its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 18.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,069 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 244 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $69,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,088,122,000 after buying an additional 318,549 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Block by 4.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,107,712,000 after acquiring an additional 582,826 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,606,269 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $510,995,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,089,000 after purchasing an additional 87,826 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on SQ shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.34.

Block Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $67.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52.

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