Block (NYSE:SQ) Shares Gap Down to $73.00

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $73.00, but opened at $67.91. Block shares last traded at $67.19, with a volume of 3,148,885 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SQ shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.67.

Block Trading Down 8.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $41.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 443.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 2.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $77.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The technology company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a return on equity of 0.63% and a net margin of 0.04%. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Equities analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $8,364,510.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,521,910.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,581 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $165,958.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 201,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,972,782.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 363,801 shares of company stock valued at $27,284,175. 10.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Block by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 113,235 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Block by 0.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 276,975 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,259,000 after buying an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in Block by 8.4% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 113,537 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,025,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Block by 89.6% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 635 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Block by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 83,911 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,714,000 after acquiring an additional 7,507 shares during the period. 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.