Financial Partners Group LLC Takes $252,000 Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Financial Partners Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,749 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Global Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 3,463 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in Block by 0.4% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 109,276 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,336,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Block by 0.4% during the third quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 39,688 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Block in the third quarter valued at about $58,850,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Block by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $72.52 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $66.92 and its 200-day moving average is $67.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.75 billion, a PE ratio of 94.18, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the purchase, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $33,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SQ has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.79.

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.