4,430 Shares in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Acquired by Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC

Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 4,430 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SQ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Block by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,915,658 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,545,367,000 after buying an additional 585,801 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Block by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Block by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after purchasing an additional 75,161 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in Block by 3,525.7% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,072,000 after buying an additional 5,771,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Block by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,399,425 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $194,719,000 after buying an additional 11,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $42,180.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $42,180.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585 in the last quarter. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SQ shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. BTIG Research upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.55.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $73.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $45.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.53, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.53. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a return on equity of 2.07% and a net margin of 2.18%. On average, research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.