BMO Capital Markets Increases Block (NYSE:SQ) Price Target to $93.00

Block (NYSE:SQ) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $92.00 to $93.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 54.28% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on SQ. Mizuho boosted their target price on Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. William Blair raised shares of Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.53.

Block Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SQ traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $60.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,718,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,891,621. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Block has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.29, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 2.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.22.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The technology company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.75 billion. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.04%. Equities research analysts predict that Block will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total transaction of $367,345.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 599,150 shares in the company, valued at $42,695,429. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,155 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $367,345.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 599,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,695,429. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of Block stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 24,505 shares of company stock worth $1,683,811. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 843.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 349 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Block during the first quarter worth $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.