Block (NYSE:SQ) Earns Buy Rating from Benchmark

Block (NYSE:SQ)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $99.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Benchmark’s price target indicates a potential upside of 66.50% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.25.

Block Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Block stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,313,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,882,127. Block has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.22. The company has a market capitalization of $36.69 billion, a PE ratio of 76.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. Equities research analysts predict that Block will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at $6,443,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 1,147 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.57, for a total transaction of $76,355.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 271,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,066,698.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,505 shares of company stock worth $1,683,811 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Block during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Block in the first quarter worth about $33,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Block in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.