Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Block (NYSE:SQ)

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 130,133 call options on the company. This is an increase of 58% compared to the typical volume of 82,335 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SQ shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.94.

Block Stock Up 6.2 %

Shares of SQ stock opened at $92.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.20 and its 200-day moving average is $73.11. The stock has a market cap of $57.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.78, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. Block has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $99.26.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total transaction of $759,347.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 563,894 shares in the company, valued at $51,415,854.92. The trade was a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,325. This represents a 3.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,120,494 over the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. SouthState Corp boosted its position in Block by 85.3% during the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Block by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 494 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Block by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 392.7% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 877 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Block Company 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.