Block (NYSE:SQ) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ – Get Rating) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $73.80, but opened at $70.61. Block shares last traded at $68.80, with a volume of 2,362,721 shares trading hands.

Specifically, insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,769 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.49, for a total transaction of $1,830,447.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 422,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,141,485.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,032 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total value of $66,336.96. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 46,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,014,217.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,769 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.49, for a total transaction of $1,830,447.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 422,617 shares in the company, valued at $25,141,485.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 241,823 shares of company stock worth $18,039,979 in the last 90 days. 11.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SQ shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Block from $108.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Block from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Block from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.27.

Block Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $76.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.43. The stock has a market cap of $42.75 billion, a PE ratio of -74.75 and a beta of 2.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Block (NYSE:SQ – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The technology company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $4.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Block had a negative net margin of 3.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.28%. On average, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Block by 148.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,359,972 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $713,861,000 after buying an additional 6,791,842 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $353,954,000. Tiger Global Management LLC grew its stake in Block by 299.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 3,799,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $208,922,000 after acquiring an additional 2,849,243 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $157,768,000. Finally, Echo Street Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Block by 133.3% during the 4th quarter. Echo Street Capital Management LLC now owns 2,353,238 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $147,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344,567 shares in the last quarter. 59.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Block

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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.