Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.59.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE SQ traded up $0.19 on Monday, reaching $65.55. The stock had a trading volume of 4,370,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,692,315. Block has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The company has a market cap of $40.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.89.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. Block's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Block will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,977,784.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Block during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth $33,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Block during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.