Brokerages Set Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) PT at $87.34

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, twenty-four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.34.

SQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the 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 $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at $38,027,285.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 1,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $121,594.93. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 590,761 shares in the company, valued at $38,027,285.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares in the company, valued at $6,443,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Block during the first quarter worth about $28,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

Shares of SQ opened at $67.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.96. Block has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.63 billion, a PE ratio of 87.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.49.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Block will post 1.72 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.