Block (NYSE:SQ) Receives Buy Rating from Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $95.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

SQ has been the subject of several other research reports. William Blair reissued a market perform rating on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Block from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Block from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Block from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Block in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $87.55.

Block Trading Up 5.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SQ traded up $4.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.53. 11,642,848 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,202,957. The stock has a market cap of $45.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.57. Block has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of Block stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total value of $42,180.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 68,823 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,318.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 113,668 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $7,679,410.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 603,861 shares in the company, valued at $40,796,849.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 477,469 shares of company stock worth $34,963,585. Corporate insiders own 10.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Block during the fourth quarter worth $528,996,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of Block by 3,525.7% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,935,002 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $459,072,000 after buying an additional 5,771,310 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in Block in the 3rd quarter valued at about $172,001,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd acquired a new position in Block during the 4th quarter worth approximately $157,021,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Block by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,192,701 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,799,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

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.