Financial Advocates Investment Management Trims Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Financial Advocates Investment Management decreased its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 14.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,779 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,189 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Block were worth $437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc raised its stake 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 buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 765 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Block by 3.4% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, CAP Partners LLC boosted its stake in Block by 3.5% during the first quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

SQ stock traded up $3.51 during trading on Thursday, hitting $68.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,906,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,605,940. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.83. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.69, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. Block’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on SQ shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.52.

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.