Block (NYSE:SQ) Now Covered by New Street Research

New Street Research began coverage on shares of Block (NYSE:SQ) in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $70.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on SQ. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Block from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Block from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Block from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Block from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $87.34.

Block Price Performance

SQ opened at $63.69 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.51. Block has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $87.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.30 billion, a PE ratio of 82.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Block (NYSE:SQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Block had a net margin of 3.47% and a return on equity of 3.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Block will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 580,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.77, for a total transaction of $539,404.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 580,086 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,572,170.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SQ. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in shares of Block by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 9,567 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Block during the 4th quarter valued at about $512,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Block by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 89,776 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,944,000 after purchasing an additional 23,433 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Block by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,724,520 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $133,436,000 after purchasing an additional 334,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Block in the fourth quarter worth about $349,000. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.