Wedbush Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Block (NYSE:SQ)

Block (NYSE:SQ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Wedbush in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $90.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Wedbush’s price target indicates a potential upside of 29.55% from the stock’s current price.

SQ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BTIG Research upgraded Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.42.

Block Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of SQ opened at $69.47 on Friday. Block has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $87.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.22, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 2.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.16.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Block had a return on equity of 2.07% and a net margin of 2.18%. On average, research analysts predict that Block will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other 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 value of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 4,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.84, for a total value of $328,762.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 193,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,231,257.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 477,469 shares of company stock worth $34,963,585 in the last three months. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth about $528,996,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Block by 3,525.7% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,072,000 after acquiring an additional 5,771,310 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Block in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $172,001,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd acquired a new stake in Block in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $157,021,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. 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.