ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Has $7.18 Million Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,914 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 263 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $7,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Block during the first quarter worth $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Block in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:SQ traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.66. 4,293,354 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,094,713. Block, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month 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. The company has a market cap of $45.96 billion, a PE ratio of 58.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 2.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.29.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Macquarie restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.79.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,007.75. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932 in the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.