Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Purchases 172 Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 38.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 616 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $48,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Block in the fourth quarter worth $353,954,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in Block in the third quarter worth $172,001,000. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in Block by 104.0% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,623,037 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $241,186,000 after buying an additional 1,847,189 shares during the last quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Block by 50.5% in the second quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC now owns 4,685,391 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $311,906,000 after buying an additional 1,572,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Block in the second quarter worth $86,561,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Block stock traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $84.20. 3,354,097 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,783,913. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.56. The firm has a market cap of $51.84 billion, a PE ratio of 492.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 2.55. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. Equities analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $384,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 280,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,054,144. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.32, for a total value of $113,338.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 69,479 shares in the company, valued at $5,163,679.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $384,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 280,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,054,144. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,056 shares of company stock valued at $18,407,064 in the last three months. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $93.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.69.

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.