Block (NYSE:SQ) Shares Up 3.4% – Here’s Why

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) traded up 3.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $70.84 and last traded at $70.58. 3,315,689 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 8,148,675 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Block in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.31.

Block Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $42.91 billion, a PE ratio of 54.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 2.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.65. 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 (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly 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. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Block, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $57.55 per share, with a total value of $25,000,007.75. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 434,405 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 255,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,742,652.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,714 shares of company stock worth $1,812,932 in the last three months. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Block during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the first quarter worth about $35,000. 70.44% of the stock is 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.