Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-one analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.52.

SQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $66.08 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.82. Block has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a PE ratio of 85.82, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at about $112,000,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 125.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,955 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 8,882 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Block by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 6,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Block by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 16,720 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.