Block Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:SQ)

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 92,851 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 33% compared to the typical daily volume of 69,776 call options.

Block Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE SQ opened at $90.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.01, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.48. Block has a 52 week low of $55.00 and a 52 week high of $94.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,884 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $123,232.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,605,124.74. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,053 shares of company stock worth $2,393,972 over the last three months. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Block by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,651,886 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,200 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Block by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,083,113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $72,709,000 after purchasing an additional 128,832 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in Block by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,233,102 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $686,948,000 after purchasing an additional 147,873 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Block by 2.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 541,204 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,969,000 after buying an additional 14,163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SQ shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. New Street Research started coverage on Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lowered 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, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

About Block

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.