Block (NYSE:SQ) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at New Street Research

New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $70.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on SQ. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Macquarie reissued an outperform rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $87.34.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $63.69 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.71, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 2.49. Block has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at $38,027,285.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SQ. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,567 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $512,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 89,776 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,944,000 after buying an additional 23,433 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Block by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,724,520 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $133,436,000 after buying an additional 334,877 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at $349,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.