GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Grows Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 139.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,129 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $73,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in Block by 843.2% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Block in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $91,070.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,651,194.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $91,070.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,505 shares of company stock worth $1,683,811 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on SQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.20.

Block Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Block stock traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.20. 5,057,060 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,867,375. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.82 and a 200-day moving average of $70.02. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The company has a market cap of $38.29 billion, a PE ratio of 81.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.