Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target Lowered to $92.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its price target dropped by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $93.00 to $92.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 41.45% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on SQ. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. New Street Research assumed coverage on Block in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.31.

Block Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $65.04 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.23. Block has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The stock has a market cap of $40.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.47, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS 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 return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Block will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,443,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.88, for a total value of $30,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,715,608.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,542 shares of company stock worth $1,343,635. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Doliver Advisors LP grew its holdings in Block by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 6,341 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Block in the 2nd quarter worth $187,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter worth about $3,145,000. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. acquired a new position in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,532,000. Finally, SRN Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 25,716 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,658,000 after acquiring an additional 5,248 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.