Algert Global LLC Makes New $483,000 Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,493 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $483,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the first quarter valued at $28,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Block during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on SQ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. New Street Research assumed coverage on Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.31.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value 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 $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,443,360. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,714 shares of company stock valued at $1,812,932 in the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Block Trading Down 2.0 %

Block stock opened at $65.70 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $40.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52.

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. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS 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.