Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Purchased by SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,624 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $1,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Block by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,088,122,000 after purchasing an additional 318,549 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Block by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,107,712,000 after buying an additional 582,826 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after buying an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after buying an additional 934,588 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Block by 17.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,733 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,143,000 after acquiring an additional 326,444 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $73.54 on Thursday. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. 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 cap of $45.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.51, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.79 and a 200-day moving average of $67.29.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on SQ shares. New Street Research initiated coverage on Block in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.79.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total transaction of $30,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,715,608.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $30,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,715,608.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,214 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,932 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

About Block

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.