Block (NYSE:SQ) Trading 0.5% Higher

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $66.62 and last traded at $66.19. 831,269 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 8,783,540 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. 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 report on Monday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.20.

Block Stock Up 1.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.52. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $63.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.95. 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 (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, 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 business 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 business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 6,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $483,712.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,158,456.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,005 shares of company stock worth $1,714,751 over the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Block during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in Block in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company's stock.

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.