Analysts Set Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Price Target at $87.59

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-four ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.59.

SQ has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Block from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, May 3rd.

Block Stock Down 5.8 %

NYSE SQ opened at $67.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a PE ratio of 87.46, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 2.57. Block has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $87.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $75.76 and its 200 day moving average is $70.76.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 2.04% and a net margin of 2.18%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,796,849.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $40,796,849.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 346,432 shares of company stock valued at $26,390,936. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Block by 10.4% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,222,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,112,000 after acquiring an additional 115,132 shares during the period. Trivest Advisors Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth about $157,021,000. IFG Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Block by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,373,857 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,807,000 after acquiring an additional 190,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $359,000. 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.