Polianta Ltd Takes $1.11 Million Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Polianta Ltd bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,600 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in Block by 1.3% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc increased its position in Block by 7.2% during the first quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 2,300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Block by 25.4% during the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. CAP Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 note on Tuesday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction of $30,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at $5,715,608.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction 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 approximately $5,715,608.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,742,652.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,214 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,932. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 0.5 %

SQ stock opened at $69.70 on Monday. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-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. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.43.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. Block’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS 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.