Block (NYSE:SQ) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Berenberg Bank

Equities research analysts at Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, FlyOnTheWall reports. The firm set a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on SQ. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Block from $75.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Monday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Block from $70.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Block from $96.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.68.

Block Trading Up 1.6 %

Block stock traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $53.94. The stock had a trading volume of 10,352,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,299,099. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Block has a twelve month low of $51.34 and a twelve month high of $89.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a PE ratio of -122.59 and a beta of 2.34.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The technology company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. Block had a negative return on equity of 0.61% and a negative net margin of 1.38%. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Block will post -0.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alyssa Henry sold 2,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.49, for a total transaction of $133,146.93. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 479,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,098,704.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Alyssa Henry sold 2,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.49, for a total transaction of $133,146.93. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 479,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,098,704.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence Henry Summers sold 3,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.09, for a total transaction of $242,418.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,472,485.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,200 shares of company stock worth $2,310,864 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Block

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Block by 100.0% during the first quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Block during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Block during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Tobam raised its position in shares of Block by 885.7% during the second quarter. Tobam now owns 483 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Block by 1,571.4% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 585 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. 61.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.