Block (NYSE:SQ) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Block (NYSE:SQ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $88.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 17.95% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Macquarie restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair upgraded Block to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Block in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.79.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $74.61. 251,492 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,056,106. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a PE ratio of 58.29, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 2.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.12. Block has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $87.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Block’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total transaction of $388,920.55. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,742,652.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $33,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 90,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,060,820. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 5,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.53, for a total value of $388,920.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 255,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,742,652.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,214 shares of company stock worth $1,637,932. 10.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 45.7% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 10,085,229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $650,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,975 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 13.9% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 7,670,523 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $494,672,000 after acquiring an additional 934,588 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 76.7% in the second quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,831,342 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $118,103,000 after acquiring an additional 795,000 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Block by 1,061.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 657,667 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,413,000 after purchasing an additional 601,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in Block by 4.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,096,614 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,107,712,000 after purchasing an additional 582,826 shares during the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is 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.