Block (NYSE:SQ) Trading Up 2.5%

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) shot up 2.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $65.58 and last traded at $65.41. 1,177,085 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 8,691,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SQ. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.59.

Block Stock Up 2.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $40.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $63.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.13, for a total value of $338,414.01. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 274,410 shares in the company, valued at $17,597,913.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 590,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,027,285.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962 in the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its stake 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. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth $33,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.