Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,793 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 406 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Block were worth $603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Block by 3,525.7% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $459,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at $353,954,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $172,001,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Block by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,683,346 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $919,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.73, for a total transaction of $9,238,128.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 485,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,177,410.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175 in the last 90 days. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Block from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.41.

Block Price Performance

NYSE SQ traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $73.44. 3,402,843 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,142,079. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.39 and a 200-day moving average of $65.55. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The stock has a market cap of $45.22 billion, a PE ratio of 452.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Block, Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.