Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,395 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Front Row Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 67,500.0% in the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Block by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. CNB Bank boosted its position in Block by 40.2% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,046 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 610 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.55.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $73.20 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $45.07 billion, a PE ratio of 95.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,318.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,318.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 477,469 shares of company stock worth $34,963,585. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Block Company 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.