Wedmont Private Capital Increases Stock Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 32.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,889 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Block were worth $311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,799,505,000 after buying an additional 1,277,043 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Block by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,513,788 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $967,942,000 after buying an additional 212,218 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after buying an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after buying an additional 75,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in shares of Block by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,982,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $694,735,000 after acquiring an additional 71,735 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $62.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $38.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.78, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 2.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.73. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.75 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SQ. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.59.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total transaction of $328,762.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,231,257.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 247,739 shares of company stock valued at $18,584,747. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

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.