Brian Grassadonia Sells 113,668 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Stock

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $7,679,410.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,796,849.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Brian Grassadonia also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, April 3rd, Brian Grassadonia sold 4,514 shares of Block stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total transaction of $353,942.74.
• On Monday, April 1st, Brian Grassadonia sold 111,666 shares of Block stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.73, for a total transaction of $9,238,128.18.
• On Monday, March 4th, Brian Grassadonia sold 111,914 shares of Block stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.17, for a total value of $8,748,317.38.
• On Tuesday, February 20th, Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of Block stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $69.47 on Monday. Block, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $87.52. The company has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 2.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Block from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.42.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Block by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,799,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,043 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Block by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,513,788 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,942,000 after purchasing an additional 212,218 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Block by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $919,508,000 after buying an additional 1,000,514 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after buying an additional 75,161 shares during the period. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $694,735,000 after buying an additional 71,735 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% 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.