Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,490,000 shares, a decline of 16.5% from the June 30th total of 12,560,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on SQ. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.25.

Block Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SQ traded down $0.63 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.11. The stock had a trading volume of 6,506,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,867,438. Block has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.11 and its 200 day moving average is $70.40. The stock has a market cap of $37.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Block will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,977,784.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 138,173 shares of company stock worth $9,363,222 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Block by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,088,122,000 after buying an additional 318,549 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Block by 4.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,107,712,000 after acquiring an additional 582,826 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $802,736,000 after purchasing an additional 75,161 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,982,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $694,735,000 after purchasing an additional 71,735 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.