Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,580,000 shares, a drop of 17.2% from the September 30th total of 10,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ traded up $1.87 on Monday, hitting $74.48. 4,091,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,980,125. Block has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $67.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Block will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $30,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,715,608.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the purchase, the director now owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,214 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,932. Insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,088,122,000 after purchasing an additional 318,549 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Block by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,107,712,000 after purchasing an additional 582,826 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in Block by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $650,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $494,672,000 after purchasing an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Block by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $139,143,000 after purchasing an additional 326,444 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SQ. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Macquarie reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer began coverage on Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.79.

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.

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