Block’s (SQ) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued their neutral rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SQ. Truist Financial boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Block from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating 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 target on the stock in a 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 for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Block from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $87.42.

Block Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SQ traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $69.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 28,948,341 shares, 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. The company has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.57. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $77.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.83. Block has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. Block had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 2.07%. The business had revenue of $5.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Block will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 127,800 shares of the company’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 value of $8,364,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,521,910.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 500 shares of Block stock in a transaction on 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 owns 68,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,790,374.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 477,469 shares of company stock valued at $34,963,585. 10.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WBI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Block in the 1st quarter worth about $349,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Block by 55.9% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 16,124 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 5,783 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of Block by 1.6% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 19,453 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Block by 240.9% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 127,001 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,741,000 after buying an additional 89,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Block by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 38,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,253,000 after buying an additional 1,438 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.