Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Invests $1.05 Million in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 13,590 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,051,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SQ. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Block by 10.4% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,222,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,112,000 after buying an additional 115,132 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its stake in Block by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 261,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,565,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 4th quarter valued at $213,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Block by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,373,857 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,807,000 after acquiring an additional 190,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $359,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Block Price Performance

SQ opened at $76.99 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $47.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 452.88, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.55. Block, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.34.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. Analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on SQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.41.

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.