Block (NYSE:SQ) Given “Neutral” Rating at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Block (NYSE:SQ)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Monness Crespi & Hardt in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Block from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Block from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Block from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Block from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.42.

Block Trading Down 1.2 %

SQ stock traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $69.47. 28,948,341 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,617,495. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Block has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $87.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a PE ratio of 90.20, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $77.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.83.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. Equities research analysts expect that Block will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,796,849.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,796,849.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,469 shares of company stock worth $34,963,585 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Block

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SQ. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Block by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 276,975 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,259,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 83,911 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 7,507 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,171 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Block by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 154,987 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,860,000 after purchasing an additional 7,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the 3rd quarter worth $434,000. 70.44% of the stock is 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.