ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Has $9.03 Million Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 1.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 106,771 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,613 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Block were worth $9,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Block by 843.2% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Block by 67,500.0% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Block during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Vima LLC acquired a new position in Block during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $367,345.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 599,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,695,429. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 247,739 shares of company stock valued at $18,584,747 in the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of SQ stock traded down $0.60 on Tuesday, hitting $61.90. 7,167,313 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,411,924. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.85. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.19 billion, a PE ratio of 80.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.75 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. Sell-side analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.