Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and twenty-six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $96.33.

Several analysts recently commented on SQ shares. New Street Research started coverage on Block in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer raised shares of Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Block from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th.

Block Price Performance

NYSE:SQ opened at $88.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $85.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.33. Block has a 12 month low of $55.00 and a 12 month high of $99.26. The firm has a market cap of $55.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,060,820. This trade represents a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total value of $759,347.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 563,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,415,854.92. This trade represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,918 shares of company stock worth $2,666,147. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Block by 40.6% in the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,529 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 4,199 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Block by 40.4% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 387,118 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $24,965,000 after purchasing an additional 111,385 shares in the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Block by 10.2% in the second quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 45,805 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Block by 2.8% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,368 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.