Avory & Company LLC Buys 4,269 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Avory & Company LLC increased its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 270,734 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,269 shares during the quarter. Block accounts for 14.7% of Avory & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Avory & Company LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $20,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SQ. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Block by 89.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its stake in Block by 67,500.0% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, CNB Bank grew its holdings in shares of Block by 40.2% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,046 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:SQ traded down $2.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.13. 4,706,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,697,023. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $77.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.61. The firm has a market cap of $45.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 438.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.55. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175. 10.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.67.

Block 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.