Optas LLC Purchases 5,152 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Optas LLC raised its position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,004 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,152 shares during the period. Block comprises 1.0% of Optas LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Optas LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $4,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SQ. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

SQ opened at $72.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.48. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.78 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $68.00 and its 200-day moving average is $66.90.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. New Street Research began coverage on Block in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.79.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at $5,715,608.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,214 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,932 over the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.