Moran Wealth Management LLC Makes New $923,000 Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,931 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Block by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,915,658 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,545,367,000 after purchasing an additional 585,801 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Block by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company's stock worth $919,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,514 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company's stock worth $802,736,000 after acquiring an additional 75,161 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in Block by 3,525.7% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,399,425 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $194,719,000 after purchasing an additional 11,376 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

SQ traded up $0.30 on Wednesday, reaching $71.50. The stock had a trading volume of 5,360,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,887,325. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $44.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 2.57. The business's 50-day moving average price is $76.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.74.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 2.04% and a net margin of 2.18%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.69 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 603,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,796,849.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total transaction of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,231,257.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 603,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SQ shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Block from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.59.

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.