Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Decreases Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,265 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 466 shares during the quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Block by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 145,192 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,231,000 after purchasing an additional 31,957 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 125.6% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,955 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 8,882 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,750 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Powell Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 4th quarter worth about $240,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $165,958.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,754 shares in the company, valued at $12,972,782.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175. Company insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE SQ traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.35. 2,737,981 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,887,005. The company has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 421.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 2.55. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $77.01 and its 200-day moving average is $66.81. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.67.

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.