Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. Takes Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,895 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of Block by 3,525.7% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $459,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Block in the 4th quarter valued at about $353,954,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $172,001,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 72.8% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,683,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,925 shares during the period. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $919,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,514 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $353,942.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 477,290 shares in the company, valued at $37,424,308.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total value of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,231,257.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 4,514 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $353,942.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 477,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,424,308.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175 in the last quarter. 10.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.14. 5,643,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,632,022. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $45.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 432.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 2.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.75. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SQ shares. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.41.

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.