Bleakley Financial Group LLC Raises Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 11.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,228 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SQ. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Block by 4.3% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,294 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Block by 9.4% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,606 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,501,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Block by 9.8% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,447 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after buying an additional 2,368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of SQ stock opened at $72.82 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $66.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.08. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $44.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.89, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SQ. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.79.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at $16,742,652.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

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.