Block (NYSE:SQ) Trading 0.5% Higher

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) rose 0.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $66.62 and last traded at $66.19. Approximately 831,269 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 8,783,540 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair raised Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.20.

Block Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $40.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.12, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.95.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $91,070.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 93,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,651,194.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 shares of the firm’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 $483,712.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,158,456.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,005 shares of company stock valued at $1,714,751 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Block during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its position in Block by 843.2% during the 4th 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 last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block in the first quarter worth $33,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.