Block (NYSE:SQ) Rating Reiterated by Monness Crespi & Hardt

Monness Crespi & Hardt restated their neutral rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on SQ. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Block from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an in-line rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Benchmark upped their target price on Block from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Block from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $87.42.

Block Stock Performance

NYSE SQ opened at $69.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.33. The company has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a PE ratio of 90.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57. Block has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $87.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 2.07% and a net margin of 2.18%. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Block will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $165,958.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585 in the last three months. 10.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Block by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,799,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,043 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Block by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,513,788 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $967,942,000 after buying an additional 212,218 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Block by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,887,628 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,508,000 after buying an additional 1,000,514 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,377,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $802,736,000 after acquiring an additional 75,161 shares during the period. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Block by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 8,982,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $694,735,000 after acquiring an additional 71,735 shares during the period. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.