Global Assets Advisory LLC Buys New Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 29,570 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,501,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 843.2% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 67,500.0% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Block in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in Block in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Block in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, April 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.73, for a total value of $9,238,128.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 485,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,177,410.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 247,739 shares of company stock valued at $18,584,747. Insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.28. 3,641,302 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,302,110. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 2.54. The business has a 50 day moving average of $68.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.69. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.32. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.75 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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.