Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases New Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,395 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SQ. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 154,987 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,860,000 after purchasing an additional 7,412 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Block by 173.5% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 75,310 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,155,000 after acquiring an additional 47,774 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Block during the third quarter worth about $641,000. Advisor Partners II LLC raised its stake in Block by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 8,154 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its stake in Block by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 8,362 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $73.20 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.78. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.07 billion, a PE ratio of 95.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,796,849.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. BTIG Research raised 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, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.55.

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.