Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-one research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.59.

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Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on SQ

Insider Buying and Selling

• Analysts Expect At Least 60% Upside In This Fintech

In related news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 434,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Block news, Director Roelof Botha acquired 434,405 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,007.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 92,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $528,996,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Block by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company's stock worth $650,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,163,975 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in Block by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 6,606,269 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $510,995,000 after buying an additional 2,720,123 shares during the last quarter. Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at $157,021,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Block by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,799,505,000 after buying an additional 1,277,043 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company's stock.

Block Stock Performance

• Affirm Holdings Stock: Is It Time to Buy Now and Get Paid Later?

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $65.36 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $63.92 and its 200 day moving average is $69.89. The stock has a market cap of $40.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52. Block has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Block will post 1.72 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

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