Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Has $1.69 Million Position in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc reduced its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,368 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 554 shares during the period. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s holdings in Block were worth $1,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Block by 100.0% during the first quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Block during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Block during the first quarter worth approximately $47,000. 61.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lawrence Henry Summers sold 3,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.09, for a total transaction of $242,418.12. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,472,485.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lawrence Henry Summers sold 3,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.09, for a total transaction of $242,418.12. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,472,485.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.82, for a total value of $56,663.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 73,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,918,620.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,200 shares of company stock valued at $2,310,864 over the last 90 days. 10.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ stock opened at $53.75 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $64.89 and its 200-day moving average is $65.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.79 billion, a PE ratio of -122.38 and a beta of 2.34. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.34 and a 52 week high of $89.97.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The technology company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. Block had a negative return on equity of 0.61% and a negative net margin of 1.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.19) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post -0.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SQ shares. Wolfe Research cut their price target on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 in a report on Monday, June 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Block from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on Block in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.32.

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.