Ulland Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,110 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Syon Capital LLC bought a new stake in Block during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $285,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the fourth quarter worth $191,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,799,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE:SQ traded up $0.09 on Tuesday, hitting $71.74. The stock had a trading volume of 2,508,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,128,890. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.34. The stock has a market cap of $44.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.49. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the purchase, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at $5,715,608.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on SQ shares. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, June 24th. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.79.

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.