Traders Buy High Volume of Block Call Options (NYSE:SQ)

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 85,865 call options on the company. This is an increase of 30% compared to the average daily volume of 65,980 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,796,849.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $483,712.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,158,456.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,673 shares of company stock valued at $9,188,222 over the last three months. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Block by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,580 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,772 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Block by 272.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,680 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 107,177 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,912,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Up 3.5 %

SQ traded up $2.33 on Friday, hitting $68.82. The company had a trading volume of 3,663,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,943,803. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Block has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.32. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.75 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Block will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.33.

About Block

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.