Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-five have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.20.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $91,070.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 93,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $91,070.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $367,345.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 599,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,695,429. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,505 shares of company stock valued at $1,683,811. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Block by 843.2% in 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. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Block in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $57.28 on Thursday. Block has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $35.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.81% and a net margin of 3.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Block will post 1.3 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.