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

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ – Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $88.79.

SQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Block

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $30,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,715,608.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $30,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,715,608.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,214 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,932. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Block by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,322 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Block by 30.0% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,798 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 203.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,578 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 4,411 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock opened at $73.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.55 and its 200-day moving average is $67.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. Block has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ – Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Block will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Block

(Get Free Report

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.

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