Block’s (SQ) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $88.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Block from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.79.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SQ opened at $73.91 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The stock has a market capitalization 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.11.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.27 billion. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Block will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired 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 approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 25,214 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,932 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SQ. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Block during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors 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.