Block (NYSE:SQ) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Susquehanna

Block (NYSE:SQ)‘s stock had its “positive” rating reissued by research analysts at Susquehanna in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $100.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Susquehanna’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 32.96% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on SQ. BTIG Research raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $62.00) on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.67.

Block Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of SQ opened at $75.21 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 414.23, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 2.55. Block has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 0.04% and a return on equity of 0.63%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Block will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total transaction of $42,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock worth $27,284,175. Insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Block by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,799,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,043 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Block by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,513,788 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,942,000 after acquiring an additional 212,218 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Block by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $919,508,000 after buying an additional 1,000,514 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Block by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after buying an additional 75,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its stake in Block by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,982,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $694,735,000 after acquiring an additional 71,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.