Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Shares Sold by Carson Advisory Inc.

Carson Advisory Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,940 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 645 shares during the quarter. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Block by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 805 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its position in Block by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 616 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in Block by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. WP Advisors LLC raised its position in Block by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 5,381 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SQ. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $165,958.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,754 shares in the company, valued at $12,972,782.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175 in the last three months. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:SQ traded up $3.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $70.30. 17,379,160 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,961,782. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The company has a market capitalization of $43.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 429.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 2.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $77.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion for 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

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.