Block (NYSE:SQ) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $92.00. The stock had previously closed at $70.30, but opened at $76.49. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Block shares last traded at $72.10, with a volume of 8,631,000 shares changing hands.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Block from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $88.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $42,375.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.75, for a total value of $42,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares in the company, valued at $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 477,469 shares of company stock worth $34,963,585 in the last quarter. 10.79% 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. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Block by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 276,975 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,259,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 83,911 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 7,507 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,171 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 1,562 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Block by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 154,987 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,860,000 after buying an additional 7,412 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block in the third quarter valued at about $434,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.76 billion, a PE ratio of 429.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Analysts forecast that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 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.