Arkadios Wealth Advisors Boosts Stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,656 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,054 shares during the quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Block were worth $3,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc boosted its position in Block by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc now owns 19,167 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter worth $271,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter worth $2,414,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in Block by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 8,065 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its position in Block by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 26,305 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

SQ opened at $87.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.68. The firm has a market cap of $53.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.88, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.51. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $99.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,088,560. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Owen Britton Jennings sold 2,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.38, for a total transaction of $253,481.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 195,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,469,231.62. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,981 shares of company stock valued at $2,681,185. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on SQ shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 11th. BNP Paribas downgraded Block from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.68.

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.