Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Short Interest Down 16.5% in July

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,490,000 shares, a drop of 16.5% from the June 30th total of 12,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,520,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SQ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at $6,443,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,147 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.57, for a total transaction of $76,355.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 271,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,066,698.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at $6,443,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 138,173 shares of company stock valued at $9,363,222. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Block during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 2.3 %

Block stock traded down $1.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $60.18. The company had a trading volume of 11,388,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,080,625. The stock has a market cap of $37.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.16, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Block has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.37 and a 200 day moving average of $70.43.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.75 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Block will post 1.28 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.