Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Insider Brian Grassadonia Sells 8,328 Shares

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total value of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Brian Grassadonia also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 2nd, Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of Block stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $121,594.93.

Block Stock Up 2.3 %

Block stock traded up $1.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,613,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,718,805. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.86. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.09, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. William Blair raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.59.

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.