Block (NYSE:SQ) Given “Buy” Rating at Mizuho

Mizuho reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $99.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

SQ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Block from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. TheStreet upgraded Block from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Block from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Benchmark initiated coverage on Block in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. They set a buy rating and a $89.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an in-line rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $83.69.

Block Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE SQ opened at $83.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Block has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $87.52. The company has a market cap of $51.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 486.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 2.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.56.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. Research analysts anticipate that Block will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,914 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.17, for a total value of $8,748,317.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 443,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,705,838.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $42,180.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,318.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 111,914 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.17, for a total value of $8,748,317.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 443,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,705,838.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,056 shares of company stock valued at $18,407,064 in the last 90 days. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the fourth quarter worth $254,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,875,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Block by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,799,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,043 shares during the period. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Block in the fourth quarter worth about $191,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.