Malaga Cove Capital LLC Acquires 2,369 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Malaga Cove Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 54.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,693 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,369 shares during the quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Block by 1.3% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its position in Block by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 2,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 765 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, CAP Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 3.5% during the first quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Up 0.1 %

Block stock opened at $61.29 on Tuesday. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.60, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 2.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.71. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. William Blair raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.93.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.57, for a total transaction of $76,355.79. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 271,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,066,698.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962 over the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.