Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Sells 1,330 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lessened its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 27.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,450 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,330 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Block were worth $232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,088,122,000 after purchasing an additional 318,549 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Block by 4.7% in the 1st 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. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its stake in Block by 13.9% during the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Block by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $347,089,000 after purchasing an additional 87,826 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, New Street Research began coverage on Block in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $30,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,715,608.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction of $30,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,715,608.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 27,714 shares of company stock worth $1,812,932 in the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Block Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $68.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.64, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Block 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.