LPL Financial LLC Increases Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 526,501 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,107 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.09% of Block worth $33,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Block during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the purchase, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction of $30,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,715,608.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SQ. William Blair raised shares of Block to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. New Street Research assumed coverage on Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Macquarie reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.34.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock traded up $1.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $67.33. 4,494,771 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,397,632. The firm's fifty day moving average is $64.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.22. The company has a market capitalization of $41.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

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 return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.