Ridgewood Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,869 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 1.3% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its stake in shares of Block by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 2,300 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 25.4% in the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 765 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 3.4% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,831 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CAP Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Block by 3.5% during the first quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:SQ traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $66.40. The stock had a trading volume of 7,222,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,631,771. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. Block, Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $30,318.27. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $121,594.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SQ shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.52.

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.