Whittier Trust Co. Increases Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 30.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,798 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Block were worth $121,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Block by 203.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,578 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 4,411 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Block by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,931 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 6,237 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Block by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,444 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $72.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.11. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.18, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick 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 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 analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. Block’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’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 value of $30,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,715,608.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,715,608.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.