Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC Acquires 3,764 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,324 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,764 shares during the period. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Block by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its holdings in Block by 7.2% in the first quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 2,300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Block by 25.4% in the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. CAP Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Block by 3.5% during the first quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,458 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962 in the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. 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 report on Friday, July 12th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, William Blair raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.34.

Block Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of SQ opened at $67.53 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $64.07 and its 200 day moving average is $68.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $87.52. The company has a market capitalization of $41.57 billion, a PE ratio of 87.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.