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

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-four ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and twenty-eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.67.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,318.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQ. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the first quarter worth about $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 purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Block during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in Block during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of SQ stock opened at $75.30 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.61. Block has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The stock has a market cap of $46.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 438.12, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Analysts predict that Block will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.