Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Receives $87.34 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, twenty-four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.34.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SQ shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Block from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the first quarter worth about $28,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Block in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

SQ stock opened at $67.53 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $41.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.70, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.80. Block has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Block will post 1.72 earnings per share 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.