Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 6.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,723 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 612 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in Block by 1.3% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $898,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc raised its position in Block by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 2,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. CAP Partners LLC grew its position in Block by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in 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 during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.31.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,742,652.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at $16,742,652.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $123,232.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,914 shares in the company, valued at $37,605,124.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,714 shares of company stock valued at $1,812,932. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block Price Performance

Block stock opened at $68.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.11 billion, a PE ratio of 88.64, a P/E/G 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal 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.