Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Receives $87.34 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned 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 price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $87.34.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SQ. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were 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 $6,443,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 value of $175,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,443,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Roelof Botha bought 434,405 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the purchase, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,179 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,962 in the last ninety days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Block by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,511,250 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,088,122,000 after acquiring an additional 318,549 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Block by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,107,712,000 after purchasing an additional 582,826 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in Block by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after buying an additional 3,163,975 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Block by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $494,672,000 after buying an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bares Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Block by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Bares Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,487,251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $347,089,000 after buying an additional 87,826 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Performance

SQ stock opened at $67.53 on Friday. Block has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $41.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $64.07 and its 200-day moving average is $68.80.

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

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.