Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $96.94.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SQ. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Block from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Block from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer upgraded Block from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Block from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Block from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Insider Activity

In other Block news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 88,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,103,280. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $272,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,235 shares in the company, valued at $8,097,325. This trade represents a 3.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,599 shares of company stock worth $2,120,494 over the last 90 days. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Block during the fourth quarter valued at $1,129,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Block by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,493 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Block by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 394 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Block by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Block by 38.1% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 9,893 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Trading Up 6.2 %

NYSE SQ opened at $92.16 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $87.20 and its 200 day moving average is $73.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.12 billion, a PE ratio of 51.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Block has a twelve month low of $55.00 and a twelve month high of $99.26.

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.